The West Michigan Academic Consortium, in collaboration with the Kaufman Interfaith Institute, will feature Omid Safi, as the 2010 Academic Consortium Conference keynote speaker on Thursday, October 7, in the Prince Conference Center, at Calvin College.
The West Michigan Academic Consortium consists of Aquinas College, Calvin College, Calvin Theological Seminary, Cornerstone University, Grand Valley State University, Hope College, Kuyper College and Western Theological Seminary.
Safi, professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is also the chair for the Study of Islam at the American Academy of Religion, the largest international organization devoted to the study of religion.
The day-long conference, “Islam Beyond the Headlines,” will feature Safi’s morning keynote address, "Where is the Love? Where is the Justice? Muslim Reflections for Today," as well as his evening keynote address, "Memories of Muhammad: The Prophet We Never Knew."
Throughout the day, breakout sessions on a variety of topics will be presented by speakers from the consortium colleges. All events are open to the public with free admission. An optional lunch and dinner will be available for a nominal fee.
Conference details, including a complete list of events and online registration, is available at www.interfaith-mi.org, or by calling P. Douglas Kindschi, director, at 616-331-5702.
Safi, will give another talk on October 8, titled, “Not
the Axis of Evil: Reforming Islam in Contemporary Iran.”
This lecture, sponsored by Grand Valley State University’s
Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies, will take place Friday,
October 8, at 8 a.m. in the Meijer Regency Room of the DeVos Center on
Grand Valley’s Pew Grand Rapids Campus, 401 W. Fulton St.
Along with numerous articles, Safi has written three books:
Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism; Memories
of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters; and The Politics of
Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious
Inquiry. Safi earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral
degrees from Duke University.
For more information, contact the Hauenstein Center for
Presidential Studies at (616) 331-2770 or visit www.allpresidents.org.
