Top contemporary Islam scholar to speak at Vanderbilt University March 28

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Akbar Ahmed, described by the British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as the world‘s leading authority on
contemporary Islam, will speak at Vanderbilt University on Monday,
March 28.

Ahmed‘s talk, “Islam and the West: Conflict or Consensus?” begins at
7:30 p.m. and will be held in Ingram Hall at Vanderbilt‘s Blair School
of Music. The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored
by Vanderbilt‘s Office of Active Citizenship and Service — the
university‘s main conduit for coordinating student volunteer activities
throughout the nation and the world.

A distinguished anthropologist, writer and filmmaker, Ahmed is the
Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and professor of international
relations at American University in Washington, D.C.

He is the former high commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain and
has advised many top officials, including President George W. Bush and
Prince Charles, regarding issues of Islam.

Ahmed grew up in the small town of Allahabad, in what was then
British India, and first became interested in Muslim leadership and its
impact on Muslim society in the 1980s when he was the Pakistani
commissioner in Baluchistan. Since that time, his studies have
primarily focused on global Islam and its impact on contemporary
culture.

He has written several books on contemporary Islam, including
Discovering Islam: Making Sense of Muslim History and Society, which
was the basis of a BBC six-part TV series, “Living Islam.” A second
book, Islam Today: A Short Introduction to the Muslim World, was rated
among the best non-fiction books by the Los Angeles Times.

Actively involved in promoting interfaith dialogue between Islam and
the West, Ahmed was appointed trustee of the World Faiths Development
Dialogue by the Archbishop of Canterbury. A second appointment by the
bishop of Washington, D.C., made him charter member of a national-level
interfaith initiative based at the National Cathedral.

He is the recipient of numerous awards for his achievements in
teaching and scholarship. Among his honors are the 2004 Professor of
the Year award for Washington, D.C., given by the Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement of
Support of Education, the Pakistani-American Congress‘ 2004 Scholar of
the Year award and the 2004 Gandhi Center Fellowship of Peace Award.

Ahmed has done numerous television interviews on programs and
networks such as the “Oprah Winfrey Show,” CNN, BBC, MSNBC, PBS‘s
“Think Tank” and the “NBC Nightly News.” He has given keynote addresses
to many prestigious organizations and lectured at the National Defense
University, Foreign Service Training Institute, USAID and the State
Department.

For more news about Vanderbilt, visit the News Service homepage at www.vanderbilt.edu/news.

Media contact: Princine Lewis, (615) 322-NEWS
princine.l.lewis@vanderbilt.edu