Abdul Hameed Shoman Cultural Forum

Founded in 1986, the Abdul Hameed Shoman Cultural Forum is a beacon of culture and creativity in Jordan and the Arab world, and in an effort by the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation to allow a broader audience to interact with scientists, intellectuals, writers, poets, artists, politicians, economists, educators, and acclaimed innovators, to discuss their ideas and share their innovation through weekly lectures and seminars that contribute to enriching cultural life in Jordan and the Arab world.

Through its cultural club, the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation hosts local, Arab, international, and intellectual celebrities from Arab countries and the world, and these activities are documented in books that are published following each event.

The Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation aims to encourage and facilitate the exchange of information and the dissemination of knowledge on the one hand, and to promote democratic dialogue as a means of countering the challenges facing the Arab world on the other.

The Forum is the foundation's link to the Jordanian and Arab public through lectures, seminars, and other events it hosts. The forum holds public lectures on diversified topics to serve the establishment's goal to become an icon of culture in Jordan and the Arab world, due to the insight in its lectures, and the ability to adopt modern thinking and embrace heritage at the same time.

The forum holds many activities and programs, including weekly Monday lectures, debates, panel discussions, technical seminars, as well as guest of the year and guest of honor events.

Cooperating Entities

The Shoman Cultural Forum collaborates with several organizations, including: the World Bank Group in Jordan, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Knowledge, the Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding, the American University at its campus, the Saudi Embassy in Jordan, the Children's Museum, the Jordan River Foundation, the Royal Film Commission, the Jordanian Women Farmers Union, the Hemaytna Initiative, the Arab Thought Foundation, the Aqaba Carnival, the Watar Foundation for Culture and Creativity, the Jordanian Writers Association and the Higher Committee for the Jerash Festival, the International Prize for Arabic Fiction in collaboration with the Royal Institute for Religious Studies, the Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Foundation, the Department of Culture and Media in Sharjah, the Arab Association for Economic Research, the Supreme Council for Population, the Arab Thought Forum, the Jabal Amman Residents Association (JARA), Learn and Know for Research and Studies, Philadelphia University, Yarmouk University, Petra University, the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED), the Hashemite University, the Al Hussein University of Technology, the Spanish Embassy, Al al-Bayt University, the University of Science and Technology, the King Faisal International Prize, Ink, the Professional Unions Complex, and the Arab Awards Forum.

Abdul Hameed Shoman Cultural Forum Programs

Monday lectures

The foundation's weekly lectures host Jordanian and Arab speakers at its headquarters to discuss the latest hot topics on the minds of Jordanians and Arabs, the lectures address a mix of controversial subjects that draws public attention.
By exploring various viewpoints, the Forum highlights current issues impacting public opinion, particularly on issues of freedoms, education, artificial intelligence, applicable legislation, policy issues, public administration, community issues, poverty, women, and children. The Forum highlights these topics to lobby for positive change on issues of freedoms in general, freedom of expression, information, and women’s legislation.
The forum allows its public guests to intervene and ask questions, as well as express their agreement or disagreement with the speaker, thus establishing the Abdul Hameed Shoman Forum as a place for cultural dialogue, where one can express their opinion and respect differences in points of view.
By organizing debates, the Forum informs the public about problematic and serious issues and tries to rally support for positive change in how to build an argument and defend the point of view.
Monday's program also hosts a platform for young adults, to involve them in public issues, giving them enough opportunity to reflect on their issues, and the public figures they would like us to host and engage on those issues, particularly matters related to education, employment, support for their projects, and funding.

Round Tables

The Foundation invites well-known experts in their respective fields, from within Jordan and the Arab world, to talk and debate matters affecting the local or Arab community, particularly those related to scientific research and the challenges. The invited speakers and experts hold their sessions in the form of a round table discussion.

Local and Arab Symposiums

1.    Local Symposium: Sheds light on local, social, political, cultural, and economic issues, where at least 12 researchers, mostly from Jordan are invited to take part, and it is held over one or more days.
2.    Joint Arab Symposium: Held in partnership with an Arab cultural institution where several Arab and Jordanian speakers are invited to shed light on an Arab or Global issue, and this is held over one day or more.

Workshops

Each year, the Abdelhamid Shoman Forum organizes two workshops, specializing in various forms of creative writing, such as stories, novels, poetry, scripts, and more. The forum hosts Arab and Jordanian instructors over several days and the workshops are advertised on social media. Individuals applying who meet all the requirements are invited to attend the workshops. 
The workshops support young female and male writers with a talent for creative writing, young journalists, young media professionals, and social media professionals who have their own writing experience and wish to develop their creative writing, as well as university/college students, who can benefit from honing their creative writing skills.

Guest of Honor

To learn about the best global experiences and practices in the development field, and to mobilize support for change in policies, procedures, and governing legislation, the Forum hosts the Guest of Honor Program, where global personalities are researched and identified for their significant contribution at a national level to the overall development process and towards educational and technological progress. A full and intense program visit is organized for the guest of honor involving a public lecture and meetings with Jordanian officials interested in the guest’s field of specialty, the work is spread over several locations, both inside and outside the institution.
The program was launched in 2015 and premiered with the hosting of former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and Singapore Development Agency President Dr. Philip Yu.

Guest of the Year

To honor Jordanian scientists, academics, and innovators, to document the experiences of significant figures for their extraordinary public work, to enrich Arab content, in 1997, the Foundation launched the Guest of the Year program. The program honors a living Jordanian personality with a significant contribution to the development of science, society, culture, or knowledge. The guest is honored over a full day with the participation of several professors and researchers who identify with the guest’s significant contributions where they will offer written reviews on the guest’s work, which will be later published in a book.