The Two Year Initiative on Islam and Other Religions
If you don't know the kind of person I am
and I don't know the kind of person you are
a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.
from "A Ritual to Read to Each Other"—William Stafford
Visiting Scholars
Visiting Scholars on Islam Lecture Series
- Lane's Center for Meeting and Learning (see individual lecture flyers below for time and location)
- Varies by lecture, listed on each scholars page
- Free and open to the entire community.
The leadership team of the Islam and Other Religions two-year initiative invites you to participate in our Visiting Scholar On Islam lectures, times and locations noted on individual lectures.
This free lecture series is the outcome of months of collaborative work by Lane religious and peace studies faculty, staff, and administrators in partnership with the University of Oregon, and is open to the entire community. View Main Event Poster
Event Dates:
March 8, 2011 | April 7, 2011 | May 19, 2011 | October 13, 2011 | November 17, 2011 | January 26 & 27, 2012 | February 2, 2012 | March 8, 2012 | April 12, 2012
Sequence of Visiting Scholar Presentations for Winter-Spring 2011:
Date: March 8, 2011
Introduction:
The first lecture provided an overall introduction to the subject of Islam using an historical approach that provided context for certain key contemporary issues. The speaker was Professor Carl Ernst, a leading scholar of Islam who teaches at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
More on Professor Carl Ernst here...
Muhammad and the Qur'an:
For over one hundred years academic scholars have applied their historical, linguistic, and literary tools to the study of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Only in recent decades have academic scholars of Islam begun to bring these tools to bear on Muhammad and the Qur'an.
Dr. Stephen Shoemaker, Associate Professor at the University of Oregon, applied the methodology of biblical criticism toward the Qur'an in order to elucidate what this source tells us about the historical Muhammad.
More on Dr. Stephen Shoemaker here...
Islam in America:
Islam has existed in America since Colonial times, particularly among the African slaves that were brought here. Since then it has become quite diverse in its forms and populations. Presently there are about as many Muslims as Jews in the United States.
Dr. Kambiz GhaneaBassiri, Associate Professor at Reed College, who has written a book entitled Islam in America, was our lecturer.
More on Dr. Kambiz GhaneaBassiri here...
American Muslim Women, Religious Authority, and Activism: More Than a Prayer:
Dr. Hammer holds an MA and PhD in Islamic studies from Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. She specializes in the study of Muslims in America, contemporary Muslim thought, women and gender in Islam, and Sufism. Dr. Hammer has previously taught at Elon University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, as well as at Princeton University. She was also a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University and a research fellow in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University.
Her publications include Palestinians Born in Exile: Diaspora and the Search for a Homeland (University of Texas Press, 2005), a co-edited volume on "Critiques of the West in Iran, Turkey and Japan" in Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 26:3 (Fall 2006), and another volume on Muslims and Media in Contemporary Islam (Fall 2009), as well as articles in Islam and Muslim-Christian Understanding, the Muslim World, and Contemporary Islam.
More on Dr. Juliane Hamer here...
Armies, Democracy and Suggestions for US Policy in the Middle East (afternoon lecture)
Egyptian Spring: Desperately Seeking Revolution (evening lecture)
Ellis Goldberg, (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1983) is a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington. He specializes in the study of Middle Eastern politics. From 1995-1999 he chaired the Middle East Center of the Jackson School of International Studies. His first book, Tinker, Tailor and Textile Worker (University of California Press, 1986), deals with the Egyptian labor movement. His most recent book is Trade, Reputation and Child Labor in 20th Century Egypt (Palgrave/MacMillan, 2004).
More on Ellis Goldberg here...
Global Rebellion: Religion and Violence among South & Central Asian Muslims (Thursday evening lecture at University of Oregon)
Global Rebellion and the Arab Spring (10:00 am Friday morning lecture at Lane Community College. CML 226)
Dr. Mark Juergensmeyer, Professor of Sociology and Global Studies at UC-Santa Barbara, author of a number of compelling works including Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence (2000) and Global Rebellion: Religious Challenges to the Secular State (2008), will be speaking at Lane Community College on the morning of Friday, January 27th at 10 am in CML 226 on the topic "Global Rebellion and the Arab Spring."
The lecture is free and open to the public. Another public lecture will be delivered at 7:30 pm the previous evening at the U of O.
Race in America:
Jamillah Karim is author of the award-winning book American Muslim Women: Negotiating Race, Class, and Gender within the Ummah. She obtained her Ph.D. in Islamic Studies at Duke University. Karim specializes in Islam in America, women and Islam, and race and immigration. Her most recent academic appointment was as associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Spelman College where she taught courses in the study of Islam for six years. In 2010 Karim moved with her family to Malaysia where she began her blog "Race+Gender+Faith." As an independent scholar currently residing in Atlanta, GA, she is writing her second book in collaboration with an American history scholar in the UK. Due out in 2013 by New York University Press, the book explores women's experiences and contributions in the Nation of Islam from the 1930s to the present.
More on Jamillah Karim here...
Dialogue of the Heart: Seeing the 'Other' from an Islamic Perspective:
Dialogue can take many forms. This presentation will discuss two examples of interreligious engagement that may be characterized as "dialogue of the heart." These examples are that of the 13th century meeting between St. Francis and the Sultan of Egypt, and the 17th century Prince Dara Shikoh's dialogue with the Hindu saint Baba Lal. These were encounters of people from different faiths, ranks, places, and even languages, which resulted in a "dialogue of the heart." In both cases the interlocutors parted with a deeper sense of (transcendent, esoteric) unity, despite the real (imminent, exoteric) differences between the faiths of Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism.
Building Faith Neighbors Between Muslims and Christians:
Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world, and Muslims and Christians together make up over half of the world. Professor Hussain will talk about interfaith dialogue in both traditions. He will discuss historical interactions, as well as contemporary issues for Christians and Muslims living in North America.
(Re)presenting: Images of Muslims in North American films and television:
Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world, and Muslims and Christians together make up over half of the world. Professor Hussain will talk about interfaith dialogue in both traditions. He will discuss historical interactions, as well as contemporary issues for Christians and Muslims living in North America.
Visiting Scholar Presentations for Fall 2011-Spring 2012:
Topics presently being considered are: issues pertaining to gender and to race, religious pluralism and interfaith dialogue, Sunni and Shi'i Islam, views on democracy and human rights, modern and progressive Islamic movements, and mysticism. The list is still in the process of formulation.