Islam and the Challenge of Modernity Symposium, March 24

March 16, 2007

Nazareth College presents a symposium on Islam and the Challenge of Modernity on Saturday, March 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Nazareth College Shults Center Forum. Scholars from Harvard University, University of Florida-Gainesville, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, and Ithaca College will take part in the event. The symposium is co-sponsored by Nazareth's Asian Studies program, the Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue (CISD), Center for International Education, German Cultural Center and the School of Management. It is free and open to the public. Nazareth College is located at 4245 East Avenue, Rochester, N.Y., 14618. For more information, call (585) 389-2963 or log onto the CISD webpage at www.naz.edu/dept/cisd. **See page two for a second symposium on March 28.**

Here is a list of the symposium speakers and topics:
• Dr. Etin Anwer, assistant professor of religious studies at Hobart & William Smith Colleges: Women and the Challenge of Globalization in Asia. Anwer is the author of Gender and Self in Islam, London: Routledge, 2006.
• Dr. Gwendolyn Z. Simmons, assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Florida-Gainesville: Islam and Modernity from the African American Perspective.
• Dr. Matthew Smith, Persian bibliographer at Harvard University: Shi'ism and Nationalism in Twentieth Century Iran.
• Dr. Raquib Zaman, professor and chair of the Finance/International Business program at Ithaca College: Asia and the Process of Economic Globalization.

A second symposium, Rumi, Sufism, and the Heart of the Abrahamic Tradition takes place at the Nazareth College Shults Center Forum on Wednesday, March 28, from 7-9 p.m. It is presented by Sheikh Kabir Helminski and Camille Helminski. Sheikh Helminski is a translator of the works of Rumi and others, and a spiritual teacher in the lineage of Jalaludin Rumi, who was a 13th century Persian poet, jurist and theologian. Helminski's books on spirituality, Living Presence and The Knowing Heart, have been published in at least seven languages. He has toured as Sheikh with the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey bringing Sufi culture to more than 100,000 people. He is also author of the recent The BeliefNet to Islam.

Camille Helminski is the author of Women of Sufism: A Hidden Treasure, and has co-authored a number of translations of Rumi with Sheikh Kabir. She is now working on the Discourses of Shams of Tabriz, Rumi's spiritual mentor and inspiration.

Founded in 1924, Nazareth College is an independent co-educational college with a liberal arts and sciences core and strong professional programs. With more than 40 undergraduate majors and 25 areas of graduate study, the College's mission is to provide an education rooted in intellectual, ethical and aesthetic values. For more information on Nazareth College, please visit www.naz.edu.

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