Exploring Omar: Scholarship at Carolina

When Rhiannon Giddens was writing the libretto for Omar, she and her team depended upon archival documents and scholarly expertise to ensure that Omar ibn Said’s story could be creatively translated with accuracy and sensitivity.

Dr. Carl Ernst, Professor Emeritus in Carolina’s Department of Religious Studies, looked at the libretto from Omar early in Rhiannon’s writing process. Dr. Ernst and his collaborator, Dr. Mbaye Lo of Duke University, have recently published the most accurate translations of Omar’s eighteen surviving writings, for the first time identifying his quotations from Islamic theological texts, correcting many distortions, and providing the fullest possible account of his life and significance. Professor Ernst was able to lend his expertise to Rhiannon and her team, offering more faithful translations of Ibn Said’s writings and beliefs that made their way into the opera.

One of Dr. Ernst’s contributions can be seen in the climax of the second act. Professor Ernst and Dr. Lo supplied a verse from a theological poem about the transcendental nature of God with which Omar would have been familiar. This poem, which includes “the first, the only, without beginning, the last, the eternal, without end,” is sung by Omar and the cast during a most powerful moment of the opera that represents Omar’s unwavering commitment to his Muslim faith.  

On this page you can learn more about the scholars who study Omar ibn Said, watch a video about Omar featuring interviews with Ibn Said scholars from UNC and Duke, and read about the academic engagement events organized by Amanda Graham, CPA’s Associate Director of Engagement, in the run-up to Omar.

Meet the Scholars

Omar Public Programs

In the weeks leading up to Omar, CPA partnered with communities on and off campus with a series of programs that contextualized and shed new light on Omar ibn Said’s story. These free programs included an Open Classroom conversation between Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels, facilitated by UNC Department of Music Professor Naomi André. The conversation, which took place in Performing & Imagining the American South, introduced Omar to over 300 undergraduate students and members of the public.  

Students attend an Open Rehearsal

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OMAR EDUCATION INITIATIVE

The Omar Education Initiative, envisioned and implemented in partnership with Carolina K-12, invited five North Carolina high school teachers with a record of accomplishment of interdisciplinary teaching through the arts to explore ways to creatively engage their students in the life and story of Omar ibn Said. The initiative made use of primary sources and the Omar workbook created by Spoleto Festival USA. Students also had the chance to engage with Rhiannon Giddens herself during a rehearsal.

Open Classroom highlights

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Other public programs included “What is the ‘Autobiography’ of Omar ibn Said?” with Dr. Carl Ernst, and Dr. Mbaye Lo, organized by CPA in partnership with the UNC African Studies Center and UNC Press. Moderated by Mark Simpson-Vos, the Editorial Director for UNC Press, the Book Talk focused on the questions about translation, religion, and identity in Dr. Ernst and Dr. Lo’s I Cannot Write My Life, a deeply investigative, archivally driven work from UNC Press.

Moments from the Book Talk

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Omar Ibn Said’s life and legacy were also debated during “The State of The South: Omar Ibn Said,” a Public Conversation between Dr. Youssef Carter, an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and the Kenan Rifai Fellow in Islamic Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, and Dr. William Spriggs, the former Chair of the Department of Economics at Howard University and Chief Economist to the AFL-CIO. Organized in partnership between CPA and MDC, and hosted by MDC Program Director Kerri Forrest, the program was an opportunity for the speakers and public to bear witness to the historical conditions of slavery faced by Ibn Said, while envisioning how we might realize contemporary systems that value humanity. 

State of The South Public Conversation

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CPA partnered with staff from the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library to host an in-person event, during which invited guests could view the Library’s Omar ibn Said Materials in person, and learn about them from a graduate student or faculty docent. The event provided guests the opportunity to view and learn about the primary source materials related to the opera. This event was designed with the hope that guests would leave with a better understanding of how the archive can conceal and reveal incredible historical events.  

Omar in the Library

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The week after Omar, the Wilson Library instructional staff offered three opportunities for the Carolina campus community to get up close and personal with the Omar ibn Said materials. Guests had a chance to see the original 19th century artifacts featuring or written by Omar himself. They also had the opportunity to speak with UNC reference librarians and learn about other ways to engage with Omar’s story and special collections at UNC Libraries.  

Students engage with Omar Library Materials

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