NASHVILLE, Tenn.–Two upcoming events at Vanderbilt in March and April hope to shed light on current events in the Middle East.
Ebrahim E. I. Moosa, associate professor in the department of religious studies at Duke University and co-director of the Center for the Study of Muslim Networks, presents "Re-Thinking Islam in Modernity" on Thursday, March 20 at 4:10 p.m. in Room 110 of the Owen Graduate School of Management. The program is free and open to the public.
Moosa is considered to be among the foremost figures of a new generation of Muslim thinkers. His area of study focuses on Islamic thought, especially Islamic law, ethics, theology and critical theory. He is the author of many published essays covering the topics of human rights, women’s rights, Muslim family law, medical ethics and political ethics. He also examines historical studies that deal with understanding the Qur’an, medieval Islamic law and philosophy.
Kanan Makiya, professor of near eastern studies at Brandeis University, presents "The United States and Post-Saddam Iraq" on Wednesday, April 2 at 4:10 p.m. in Room 114 Furman Hall. Makiya is an adviser for the Iraqi National Congress. The program is free and open to the public.
His book "Republic of Fear," written under the pseudonym Samir al-Khalil, became a bestseller after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. "Cruelty and Silence: War, Tyranny, Uprising and the Arab World", published under his own name, was awarded The Lionel Gelber Prize for the best book on international relations published in English in 1993.
Makiya has collaborated on two films for television including "Saddam’s Killing Fields" (American Title), which first exposed the 1988 campaign of mass murder in northern Iraq known as the Anfal. The film received the Edward R. Morrow Award For Best Television Documentary on Foreign Affairs in 1992.
Makiya’s work was recently the subject of a feature story in the "New York Times Sunday Magazine" http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/02/magazine/02IRAQ.html.
The programs are sponsored by Vanderbilt’s Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities. More information about the Humanities Center is available at: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/rpw_center/.
These are the second and third programs in the three-part series "Understanding the Middle East." The first speaker was Benjamin Barber, author of the best-selling book "Jihad vs. McWorld". He spoke at Vanderbilt in November 2002.
The Owen School is located at 401 21st Ave. S. Furman Hall is located between the Law School and Kirkland Hall on the Vanderbilt campus. Parking is available in the Wesley Place Garage at the corner of 21st Avenue and Scarritt Place (behind Alpine Bagel). For more information call (615) 343-6240 or e-mail: rpw.center@vanderbilt.edu.
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Media contact:David Glasgow, (615) 322-2706 david.glasgow@vanderbilt.edu