Emad Shahin, Henry R. Luce Associate Professor of Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding, will deliver the Henry R. Luce Inaugural Lecture, “Islam and Politics: Toward a Humanistic Approach,” at 4:15 p.m. on March 25 (Thursday) in the Hesburgh Center Auditorium.
In their pursuit to establish an Islamic state, Islamists have tipped the balance toward politics, power, and authority. Whether in power or as opposition movements, the results have been mixed and clearly wanting.
In his lecture, Shahin will call for shifting the focus back to the society and the individual. He argues for reclaiming Islam’s humanistic and universal values that provide common ground with the rest of humanity and reaffirm the dignity, freedom, and independent reasoning of the individual.
Shahin is a comparativist who examines the foundation for democracy and political reform within Islamic law, philosophy, and political practices. He is the editor-in-chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics (Oxford University Press, forthcoming in 2011), and he is co-editing The Oxford Handbook of Islam and Politics (Oxford University Press, forthcoming in 2011) with John L. Esposito of Georgetown University.
James Piscatori, deputy director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at The Australian National University, will serve as lecture respondent.
Contact: Kathy Smarrella, (574) 631-9370, ksmarrel@nd.edu