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BY HANNAH PURKEY

In print | Published April 3, 2008

Jamal Elias, University of Pennsylvania professor of Religious Studies, gave a lecture Tuesday as part of a film and lecture series on Islamic studies taking place this month. The lecture, entitled “Islam and the Defense of History,” focused on the role of reason and rationality in Islam in both a contemporary and historical perspective.

Tuesday’s talk is the second lecture of the series “Islam, Globalism and Cosmopolitanism” put together by the religion and sociology and anthropology departments.

“The idea is great, and the topic is very timely,” Elias said. “I love the fact that it deals with globalism and modernity and so many different topics and methods of study.”

The series organizers, Professor Tariq al Jamil of the religion department and professor Farha Ghannam of the sociology and anthropology department, made it a goal to invite professors studying different aspects of Islamic studies.

“We wanted a range of perspectives in order to get different ideas of Islam,” al Jamil said. “[The lecturers] are really a group of acclaimed professors, and we wanted to get their perspectives on what it’s like to be engaged in Islamic Studies.”

Al Jamil hopes that the variety of topics covered will give students a broad perspective of Islam. “We tried to bring together the artistic and intellectual side of the culture,” he said. These facets of Islam are integrated into the different lectures. “We are aware of the different dimensions, aspects and approaches, and we are trying to engage them all,” Ghannam said.

Professors are using this opportunity to supplement their teachings. “It’s good to bring in different perspectives to fill the gaps of our classes and to supplement our teachings,” Ghannam said. “It is good for the students and for us [the faculty] and the community at large to learn more about Islam.”

The series is made possible by the donation of Swarthmore alum Bruce Gould ’54, who provided the funds for the series. “If you look at the television or media news, or even the government we have these days, the view of the Muslim community is so false. There is no understanding about them,” Gould said. “I thought Swarthmore, with its superb faculty and students, was the perfect place to breed knowledge about Islamic Studies.”

The lectures so far have been well attended, according to al Jamil. “I thought it was really successful. The students seemed engaged and interested,” he said.

Students at the lecture felt similarly. “It was very interesting, provided a new and unusual lens onto looking at Islam,” Camilia Kamoun ‘11, who has attended both of the lectures, said. "They didn’t present what you would think of as the traditional religious discussion. It is more religion as it applies to living in the modern world."

Tuesday’s lecture as well as the first lecture in the series, “Islam and the making of cosmopolitan cultures,” by Hamid Dabashi of Columbia University, focused more on the historical aspect of Islam, according to Ghannam.

“We are starting with the history, because it is important for students to be versed in the history of the culture,” Ghannam said. “Then we are going to move towards the more contemporary period, the more anthropology based topics.”

The upcoming lectures “Sexuality, Modernity and Authenticity: the checkered career of ‘Zina’ in the Islamic legal tradition,” by Judith Tucker of Georgetown University, and “Mediatized Islam, Cyberspace and the public sphere in the Muslim world,” by Jon Anderson of the Catholic University of America, will be on April 10 and 17, respectively.

The lectures will be supplemented by film screenings, which, although not directly connected to the lectures, touch on the same important themes covered in the lectures, according to al Jamil.

The timing of the lecture series is coordinated well to draw attention to the future goals of the Islamic studies program. “Our proposal is being considered,” al Jamil said. “We submitted our curriculum and academic proposal for review.”

The series and possibility of a future Islamic studies program emphasizes the growing interest in studying Islam. “It’s important to get the entire college involved, since Islamic studies is such a timely and important topic,” al Jamil said.

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