By Young Soo Yang
The series will examine various aspects of the religion and its culture, including the concepts and practices essential to Islam today. Other issues to be explored include the global forces impacting Muslim communities, the assumptions and truths about Muslim women, the diverse cultures and communities of Islam in America and Islam in Turkey.
Scheduled are:
March 1: “The Essentials of Islam, Past and Present” with Jamal Elias of the University of Pennsylvania.
March 8: “Islam in Modern Asia: Cosmopolitan, Not Western; Modern, Not Secular” with Haroon Moghul of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.
March 22: “Islam and Women: Ten Things Worth Knowing” with Carolyn Baugh of Bryn Mawr College.
April 5: “Our Andalusia: Islam in the American Mix” with Ann Norton of the University of Pennsylvania.
April 12: “The Adventure of Political Islam in Turkey: A Nonviolent Takeover?” with Mehmet Darakcioglu of the University of Pennsylvania’s Middle East Studies Center.
The Center’s director Jack Pesda says the purpose of the five topics is to explore the diversity of Islam in the modern world rather than just from the perspective of one region.
The recent events surrounding the NYPD surveillance of Muslims in New Jersey highlight the scrutiny that the state’s Muslim community has endured since September 11. While the size of the Muslim population continues to grow in New Jersey, fear and suspicion by non-Muslims continue to linger as evidenced by opposition to the building of mosques.
“A new mosque was established in Voorhees in Camden County a few years ago which resulted in local opposition. Fortunately a local interfaith group of – Catholics, Jews and Muslims – worked to overcome the opposition and the mosque was built,” said Pesda.
It is precisely this purpose of reducing tensions between different faiths and promoting unity between Americans of diverse backgrounds that Pesda says inspired the program. He says there is an important role for institutions of higher learning to embrace in promoting understanding of Islam within the greater community.
“While Islam is studied in a variety of college courses, institutions should be doing more to educate the general public and of course that is the major goal of our series.”
“Islam: Tradition and Diversity” is a joint effort of Camden County College’s Center for Civic Leadership and Responsibility, Penn Museum’s International Classroom Program and The American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) and Penn’s Middle East Center is funded by a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC).
Those interested in attending the lectures can contact Barbara Palmer at bpalmer@camdencc.edu or call 856.227.7200 Ext. 4333.