Events > Conferences and Talks (2007-2008)

Talk: “Funny Jihad: Islamophobia and Muslim Ethnic Comedy”

A talk by
Mucahit Bilici
Assistant Professor of Sociology, John Jay College

Discussant:
Taylor Carman
Professor of Philosophy, Barnard College

Abstract:
Since the tragic events of 9/11, there has been an upsurge in ethnic comedy by Muslims in America. More and more Muslim individuals (among them Azhar Usman, Ahmed Ahmed, and Maz Jobrani) and groups such as Allah Made Me Funny and Axis of Evil are appearing on stage with comic routines-and attracting larger and larger non-Muslim audiences. Paradoxically, a tragedy that triggered widespread Islamophobia in American society seems also to have opened the field for Muslim comedy. This talk will explore the landscape of Muslim ethnic comedy in the United States and its intricate relationship with Islamophobia.

Prof. Bilici received his PhD from the University of Michigan with the dissertation entitled "Finding Mecca in America: American Muslims and Cultural Citizenship." A cultural sociologist, he has done ethnographic research on various aspects of the cultural settlement of Islam in the United States. He is currently at work on a book that explores previously unexamined dimensions of Muslim cultural citizenship in America, including questions of how America is made Muslim (e.g., qibla codification, Islamizing English, and the appropriation of America as a Muslim homeland) and how Muslims are made American through various citizenship practices (among them civil rights advocacy, interfaith activism and ethnic comedy).

Date: November 18, 2008
Time: 4:15-5:45 pm
Place: Room 801, IAB

A reception will follow the talk.

The talk is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion (CDTR), Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP), and the Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life (IRCPL).

For more information: Ahmet Kuru: ak2840@columbia.edu

Panel: “Religion and Statecraft”
A Panel Discussion with

Alfred C. Stepan
Wallace Sayre Professor of Government
Director of the Center for Democracy, Toleration and Religion

Abdulkarim Soroush
Distinguished Guest and Visiting Professor at the School of International and Public Affairs

Michael Blake
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Washington and author of Fall 2007 Capstone Essay

Mirjam Künkler
Instructor, Department of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University

Date: Monday, December 10, 2007
Time: 6-8pm
Location: International Affairs Building, Room 1501

Reception with food, wine and live music to follow.

Copies of the new issue of the Journal of International Affairs (JIA) will be on sale.

Cosponsored by the Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion (CDTR) and the Journal of International Affairs (JIA).

For more information, please visit http://jia.sipa.columbia.edu or call (212) 854-4775.

Conference: “Islam in Turkey Today”

The Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion and The Middle East Institute sponsor a symposium dedicated to examining Islam’s role in contemporary Turkey. Entitled “Islam in Turkey Today,” the symposium showcases the work of a global array of scholars working on the interaction between Islam and state in Turkey. Presenters include several members of the Turkish parliament as well. Sessions on Friday, November 2, focus broadly on the role of Islam in the Ottoman empire, along with Islamic movements that sprung up in the aftermath of its collapse, from the more traditionally based to the well-known Gulen movement. Saturday’s sessions spotlight the current relationship between Islam and politics, examining both the 2007 elections and the interplay between culture and religion in Turkish politics. Click here to register.

Panel: The Futures of Religious Pluralism
“Spiritual Practices of Trust, Diversity-Respect and Peace in an Imperial Age of Distrust, Diversity-Disrespect and War”

James Tully
University of Victoria, Department of Political Philosophy
Author of Strange Multiplicity: Constitutionalism in an Age of Diversity

“The Way We Live Now: Religion Unbound”
Winnifred Fallers Sullivan
SUNY-Buffalo School of Law
Author of The Impossibility of Religious Freedom

“Equality and Perplexing Legal Questions about Religion”
Kent Greenawalt
Columbia University, School of Law
Author of Religion and Constitution

Date: Thursday, October 11, 2007
Time: 3:00-6:00 pm
Location: L107 W & J Warren Hall, Corner of West 115^th Street and Amsterdam Ave

This Panel is co-sponsored by The Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion (CDTR), and The Department of Religion at Columbia University

The Panel is part of the Workshop “After Pluralism: Rethinking Models of Interreligious Engagement” that is chaired by Courtney Bender, Professor at the Department of Religion. The Workshop convenes a multidisciplinary group of scholars from law, history, religion, anthropology, literature, and sociology, and questions the categories of religion, pluralism, and secularism in a global range of contexts.

For further information and to register for the subsequent part of the Workshop on Friday, October 12, please visit http://www.columbia.edu/cu/afterpluralism/.