Aug. 22, 2002

Contact: Sandra Zimdars-Swartz, Department of Religious Studies, (785) 864-7259.

Sept. 11 symposium at KU to focus on teaching and learning about Islam

LAWRENCE -- The challenges facing those at the University of Kansas who both teach and learn about Islam, its religious tenets and its culture are the focus of a three-day symposium at KU, Sept. 11-13.

The symposium, entitled "Teaching about Islamic Traditions in the Aftermath of Sept. 11," will investigate aspects of Islam through a lecture series by internationally known Islamic scholars and an all-day symposium for KU graduate teaching assistants and faculty whose courses include Islamic topics.

"We want to help instructors who need reliable information about Islam and its people," said Sandra Zimdars-Swartz, KU professor of religious studies and symposium planning committee chair. "Armed with insights from scholars who have devoted their careers to the study of Islamic traditions, instructors can better help their students understand the diversity of Islamic traditions."

Islamic scholars Victoria Holbrook of Ohio State University and Bruce Lawrence of Duke University will present guest lectures on the relationships between Islam and the West. Holbrook will address "Terrorism and the Trust" at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11. Lawrence's topic is "Islamic Futures: Hope, Not Fear, Is the Signpost Ahead." He will speak at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12. The public is invited to the evening lectures, both in Alderson Auditorium at the Kansas Union.

On Friday, Sept. 13, graduate teaching assistants and KU faculty will gather to hear Lawrence discuss "Teaching Islamic Civilization: The Axis of Hope for Millennial Order" in a morning plenary session. Instructors then will attend breakout sessions of their choice on specific aspects of Islam and its culture. In the afternoon, Holbrook will lead a plenary session, discussing "How Islam Does It" with symposium attendees.

Faculty and GTAs from humanities and Western civilization, African and African-American studies, anthropology, history, political science, religious studies and other humanities and social science departments are expected to attend the Friday session. Arienne Dwyer (anthropology), Mohammed El-Hodiri (economics), Diane Fourny (French and Italian), Marilyn Klaus (African and African-American studies), Kathy Libal (international studies/women's studies) and Margaret Rausch (religious studies) will lead the breakout sessions.

"This is an extraordinary opportunity for the KU and Lawrence communities to learn about Islam from sources other than the mass media," Zimdars-Swartz said. "I hope that students, teachers and the general public will come away from this event with a fuller understanding of Islam, what it is and what it isn't, and take that knowledge with them to class, to work, to church, to synagogue and to their families."

The symposium is sponsored by the Hall Center for the Humanities' Fund for the Improvement of Teaching as well as the KU chancellor's office, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Humanities and Western Civilization Program, the Department of Political Science and the Department of Religious Studies.