How do we read the recent horrors brought on by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the continuing strife pitting Sunni against Shia throughout the Middle East and beyond? To address this and other questions, the Center for Dialogues will host three leading scholars on Islamic history and politics on Tues., Sept. 16.
How do we read the recent horrors brought on by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the continuing strife pitting Sunni against Shia throughout the Middle East and beyond? Are the sectarian tensions shaking the Islamic world a passing convulsion, or do they constitute the harbinger of a global confrontation, and what are the consequences for the United States of such developments?
To address these momentous questions, New York University’s Center for Dialogues will host three leading scholars on Islamic history and politics on Tues., Sept. 16, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall** (Silver Center for Arts and Science, 100 Washington Sq. East [betw. Washington and Waverly Places]).
The panelists include Richard Bulliet, Emeritus Professor of History, Columbia University; former CIA analyst Judith Yaphe, professorial lecturer, Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University; and Hossein Kamaly, assistant professor of Asian and Middle Eastern cultures, Barnard College. The panel discussion will be moderated by Mustapha Tlili, founder and director of the NYU Center for Dialogues. It will be followed by a question and answer session. (Note: Professor Kamaly replaces Hichem Djaït, President, Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts, who was originally scheduled as a panelist.)
Bulliet is an authoritative historian of Islam, specializing in Iranian history, who has authored Cotton, Climate, and Camels in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment in World History and Islam: The View from the Edge, among other works.
Yaphe is a leading scholar on U.S. foreign and security policy toward the Muslim world. She is a senior research fellow and Middle East project director in the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University. She served for 20 years as a senior analyst on Middle Eastern and Persian Gulf issues in the Office of Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis, Directorate of Intelligence, CIA.
Kamaly specializes in Middle Eastern history and Islamic Studies. He has a research interest in intellectual history and Perso-Islamic studies and has expertise in many classical and early Islamic texts.
To RSVP (required) or for further information, please email info@centerfordialogues.org or call 212.998.8693.
Subways: N, R (8th Street - NYU), 6 (Astor Place), A, B, C, D, E, F, M (West 4th Street).
**This event was originally scheduled to take place in Jurow Lecture Hall, which is adjacent to Hemmerdinger Hall within the Silver Center for Arts and Science.
The Center is also hosting three other events this fall, with times and locations to be announced:
• October 6: “America’s Latest Orphan: Afghanistan. What does the Future hold for the Country?”—a lecture by Barnett R. Rubin, director, NYU’s Center on International Cooperation
• November 12: “Turkey under Erdoğan: Is it Still a Model for ‘Islamic Democracy’ ” panel discussion
• December 4: “Social Media and the ‘Arab Spring’ ”—a documentary screening and panel discussion
Editor’s Note:
New York University’s Center for Dialogues: Islamic World-U.S.-The West emerged from the tragedy of September 11th, which highlighted the need for greater communication among and about the United States, Europe, and the Muslim world. The Center was founded as a forum for constructive debate among the various religious, intellectual, economic, and political sectors of American, European, and Islamic societies. It brings contentious issues between the Islamic world and the West into a more rational plane and promotes this approach to a wide audience, including important constituencies of policy and decision-makers, policy analysts, the media, and educational institutions. For more information, go to www.centerfordialogues.org.