One of the world's leading scholars of Islam and its relationship with the West will be in Nottingham on March 10 and 11 2008 to deliver this year's Firth Lectures in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at The University of Nottingham.
John Esposito, Professor of Religion and International Affairs and Professor of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University in Washington DC, is also the founding director of Georgetown's Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Professor Esposito is the author of numerous publications on the Islamic world, and has made a significant contribution to policy-making through such bodies as the West-Islamic World Dialogue Group of the World Economic Forum and the United Nations' Alliance of Civilisations Project.
The Firth Lectures are staged biennially by the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. Hugh Goddard, the Professor of Christian-Muslim Relations in the Department, said: “Given the tensions which exist in Christian-Muslim relations in different parts of the world, and in the relationship between the world of Islam and the West as a result of certain features of Western foreign policy towards the Muslim world, Professor Esposito's visit is extremely timely, and the opportunity to hear an American perspective on these issues is very much to be prized.”
Professor Esposito's latest book, co-authored by Dalia Mogahed, will be published two days before his visit to the University. 'Who speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think' uses an evidence-based approach to understanding opinion in the contemporary Muslim world, analysing data acquired from a poll of tens of thousands of Muslims in over 35 Muslim-majority countries — covering some 90 per cent of the world's Muslim population — by the Gallup Organization. This makes the study the largest of its kind, and the conclusions which it reaches on such questions as the relationship between Islam and terrorism, the reasons for anti-Americanism in the Muslim world, and the views of Muslim women, are very striking. It is thus a truly ground-breaking research project.
On March 10 at 5pm Professor Esposito will deliver his first lecture on: 'The Global Resurgence of Religion in Politics and International Affairs'. At 5pm on March 11 he will then speak on 'The World of Islam and the West: Prospects in the Light of 9/11'.
Professor Esposito is widely interviewed or quoted in the media, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, CNN and BBC, and in media throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
The public are welcome to attend the lectures which are being held in room B63 of the Law and Social Science Building on University Park. Admission is free and no tickets are required.
Source: By The University Of Nottingham
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