CIS STUDENT SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM

MAY 4, 2017 9:00 AM -8:00 PM   GTU LIBRARY BOARD ROOM, 3RD FLOOR

9:00-9:30 am Coffee and Welcome
Dr. Riess Potterveld, President, GTU    
Dr. Uriah Y. Kim, Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs, GTU
Dr. Munir Jiwa, Director, Center for Islamic Studies and Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Anthropology, GTU

9:30-11:00 am
Panel 1: Studying the Islamic Tradition in Academia              
Moderator: Dr. Marianne Farina, CSC, Professor of Philosophy and Theology, Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology

Al-Ghazālī’s System of Ethics: A Guide on Investigation and Critical Analysis in Islamic Studies
Rania Shah, MA in Islamic Studies, GTU, 2016 and Student Advisor in Near Eastern Studies, UC Berkeley and Program Assistant in CIS, GTU

The Modernization of Islamic Law
Ahmed Khater, MA in Islamic Studies, GTU, 2015 and PhD Student in Cultural and Historical Studies of Religion, GTU and Lecturer in Arabic, Near Eastern Studies, UC Berkeley and Adjunct Lecturer in Islamic Studies, GTU

Shibli Nomani's Contribution to Kalam
Saad Shaukat, MA in Islamic Studies, GTU, 2016, and PhD Student in Near Eastern Studies, UCLA

Deobandi and Barelvi Traditions in Pakistan – Debating Sunni Orthodoxy and History
Mohammad Waqas Sajjad, PhD Candidate in Cultural and Historical Studies of Religion, GTU

11:00-12:30 pm
Panel 2:  Researching Muslim Diversity and Identity      
Moderator Dr. Munir Jiwa, CIS Director and Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and Anthropology

“Know Yourself and Do for Self”: Shaping Black Muslim Identity in Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam
Rasheeda Plenty, PhD Student in Cultural and Historical Studies of Religion, GTU

Mainstreaming Shia Scholarship Within Academia
Mahjabeen Dhala, MA in Islamic Studies, GTU, 2017, and incoming PhD Student/Presidential Scholar in Sacred Texts and Their Interpretation, GTU

Exploring Muslim Diversity in Context of Alevi Tradition in Turkey
Dr. Hatice Yildiz, PhD, Cultural and Historical Studies of Religion, GTU, 2017
Lecturer in Islamic Studies, St. Mary’s College

The Role of Islam in Kurdish Cultural Identity in America
Murat Bilici, MA in Islamic Studies, GTU, 2015, and incoming PhD Student in Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion, GTU

12:30-2:00 pm Lunch
Reverberating Echoes: Contemporary Art Inspired by Traditional Islamic Art, curated by Carol Bier, historian of Islamic art and CIS visiting scholar. Exhibition at Doug Adams Gallery, CARe, GTU

2:00-3:30 pm  
Panel 3: Teaching and Pedagogy in Islamic Studies 
Moderator Dr. Judith Berling, Professor of Chinese and Comparative Religions, GTU

Reflections on Course Design and Islamic Education
Reem Javed, PhD Candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies, GTU

The Qur'an's Christology as Confirmation of New Testament Gospels
Dr. Ali Ataie, PhD, Cultural and Historical Studies of Religion, GTU, 2016
Faculty, Zaytuna College,  and Adjunct Lecturer in Islamic Studies, GTU

Sira-Stories: A Gift to Everyone
Rev. Alexis Easton, Certificate in Islamic Studies, GTU, 2015
Retired United Methodist Pastor and Interfaith Facilitator

The Development of Islamic Chaplaincy in the US & Muslim World
Kamal Abu-Shamsieh, PhD Candidate in Practical Theology, GTU
Community Outreach Liaison at Hinds Hospice and International Trainer in Islamic Chaplaincy

3:30-5:00 pm
Panel 4: Engaging the Public Sphere: The Scholar Activist   
Moderator Dr. Hatem Bazian, Senior Lecturer in Near Eastern Studies and Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley, and Co-Founder and Faculty of Zaytuna College, Director, Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project, Center for Race and Gender, UC Berkeley, and Editor, Islamophobia Studies Journal 

Engaging with Movements & Academia
Dr. Abdullah bin Hamid Ali, PhD, Cultural and Historical Studies of Religion, GTU, 2016
Assistant Professor in Islamic Sciences, Zaytuna College and Founder of Lamppost Productions

Roles and Rules: Islamophobia, Securitization, and Navigating the Borders of Scholar-Activism
Paula Thompson, MA in Islamic Studies, GTU, 2016, and incoming PhD Student in Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion, GTU
Coordinator of Islamophobia Research and Documentation Project Center for Race and Gender, University of California, Berkeley

From Ikhwanophobia to Islamophobia: Post-Colonial Cultural Nationalism in Post-Revolutionary Egypt
May Kosba, MA in Islamic Studies, GTU, 2016, and incoming PhD Student/Presidential Scholar in Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion, GTU 

Seeing Islam Through the Lens of Social Justice
Sundiata Al Rashid, MA in Islamic Studies, GTU, 2015
Social Worker in Oakland, CA

5:00-6:00 pm Reception 

6:00-7:30 pm
Panel 5: Expressing Faith: Creativity and the Arts         
"Scholarly Strategies for Survival"
Moderator and Talk by Carol Bier, Visiting Scholar, Center for Islamic Studies, GTU and Curator for current exhibit, Reverberating Echoes: Contemporary Art Inspired by Traditional Islamic Art, GTU, 2017

Entromancy: Faith and Fiction for Social Justice
Som Pourfarzaneh, PhD, Theology, Anthropology, and Media Studies at GTU, 2013
Digital Marketing Manager, Maximum Games & Novelist

Faith, Painting, Life: A Story of Interaction
Fatemeh Montazeri, MA in Islamic Studies, GTU, 2013
PhD Student in Near Eastern Studies, UC Berkeley

Love & Light (talk by video presentation)
James Whipple (Barakah Blue), MA in Islamic Studies, GTU, 2015
Acclaimed Poet, Rapper, and International Performer

7:30-8:00 pm Keynote
Scholarship, Leadership, Activism, Aesthetics: Islamic Studies at the GTU and in the Public Sphere
Dr. Munir Jiwa, CIS Director

8:00 pm Maghrib Prayers