Middle East politics subject of Tuesday guest lecture
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Reza Aslan
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Religious scholar Reza Aslan, author of the book, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam, will speak on the subject of politics in the Middle East at SUNY Fredonia Tuesday, April 11 at 8 p.m. in the Williams Center Multipurpose Room.
Tickets, $1, are available at the Central Ticket Office or at the door.
Mr. Aslan’s book, published by Random House in 2005, is a call to reform and a proposal to end the religious battle between East and West. Born in Iran, Mr. Aslan lives in the United States, and is a research associate at the University of Southern California’s Center on Public Diplomacy.
In No god but God, he explains Islam in all its beauty and complexity. The book describes how, in the shadow of European colonialism, Muslims developed conflicting strategies to reconcile traditional Islamic values with the realities of the modern world, thus launching what Mr. Aslan terms the “Islamic Reformation.”
The New York Times Book Review described the book as, “Wise and passionate . . . An incisive, scholarly primer in Muslim history and an engaging personal exploration.”
Mr. Aslan has written on current affairs in the Middle East and Islam for the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Slate, Boston Globe, the Washington Post, and The Nation and has appeared on Meet the Press, Hardball, The Daily Show, and Nightline.”
Currently a doctoral candidate in history of religions at the University of California at Santa Barbara, Mr. Aslan holds an M.F.A. in fiction from the University of Iowa, and a master’s degree in theology from Harvard. He has served as a legislative assistant for the Friends’ Committee on National Legislation in Washington D.C., and was elected president of Harvard’s Chapter of the World Conference on Religion and Peace, a United Nations Organization committed to solving religious conflicts throughout the world.”
The event is sponsored by the student group, Spectrum Entertainment Board. For information, contact Dan Tedesco, chairperson of lectures and special events.
