Professor Vitaly Naumkin, president of Moscow’s Institute of Oriental Studies, will deliver a public lecture, “Islam in Russia,” on Thursday, October 28, 6-8 p.m. at New York University’s Hagop Kevorkian Center, Richard Ettinghausen Library, 50 Washington Square South (enter at 255 Sullivan Street).
Professor Vitaly Naumkin, president of Moscow’s Institute of Oriental Studies, will deliver a public lecture, “Islam in Russia,” on Thursday, October 28, 6-8 p.m. at New York University’s Hagop Kevorkian Center, Richard Ettinghausen Library, 50 Washington Square South (enter at 255 Sullivan Street).
While Islam in the West has, since the end of the Cold War, preoccupied Europeans and Americans alike, little attention has been paid to the situation of Islam in Russia. Within its new borders, the newly constituted Russian Federation inherited from the former U.S.S.R. 25 million Muslim citizens. Who are these Muslim Russians? What is their history? What is their place in the emerging Russian democracy? How do they live their Islamic faith and traditions? How do they view their relationship to the larger Muslim world? Are they a source of hope, or a source of concern for Russia and its political leadership?
Naumkin, the former president of the Moscow International Center for Strategic and Political Studies, is a universally renowned scholar on the Arab and Muslim worlds from ancient to modern times. He is also known for his work on international relations, strategic studies, Islamic Studies, conflict management and resolution, and Eurasian Studies.
The lecture is co-sponsored by NYU’s Center for Dialogues and the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies. Please call 212.998.8693 or e-mail info@centerfordialogues.org for more information or to RSVP by October 25. Admission is free. Subway Lines: A, C, E, B, D, F (West 4th Station). Reporters interested in attending must RSVP to James Devitt, NYU’s deputy director for media relations, at 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu.
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 the important constituencies of policy and decision-makers, policy analysts, the media, and educational institutions. For more, go to www.centerfordialogues.org.
The Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at New York University was created in 1966 to foster the interdisciplinary study of the modern and contemporary Middle East and to enhance public understanding of the region. The Kevorkian Center's activities focus on the histories, politics, economies, religions, cultures and languages of the area stretching from North Africa to Central Asia. The activities of the Center focus on the contemporary political economy and cultures of the area from North Africa to Central Asia, and on the historical processes that have shaped the present. For more, go to http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/neareast/.
