Events > Archive > Fall & Spring 2007 Individual Talks and Events

Movie: “Salata Baladi”
Egypt, 2007, 105 minutes

followed by Q&A with Egyptian filmmaker Nadia Kamel

Date: Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Time: 7pm
Location: 612 Schermerhorn Hall

When her young nephew hears a sermon in Cairo encouraging religious war, Nadia Kamel, long-time assistant to the legendary Egyptian filmmaker Youssef Chahine, takes it upon herself to acquaint him with the history of his maternal grandmother Maria (Naela). Incorporating footage of visits by Maria and her husband to relatives in Italy, Israel, and Palestine, this documentary tells the story of a remarkable woman who is part Jewish, part Christian, part Muslim---and all at once a feminist, a communist, an Italian and an Arab. Her history poignantly reveals the tensions and disfigurements brought about in a culture forced to
accommodate the arbitrary boundaries of politics. A tale of humanity, tolerance, and diversity.

Filmmaker’s Biography
Egyptian filmmaker Nadia Kamel was born in 1961. She holds a B.A. in microbiology and chemistry from Cairo University/Ain Shams University and completed her postgraduate studies at the National Centre for Agronomy, as well as a diploma from the Center of Environmental Studies, both in Cairo. Kamel has worked as assistant director and production manager with many Egyptian directors, including renowned filmmakers Youssef Chahine, Yousry Nasrallah and documentarian Atiyyat El Abnoudy. Salade Maison is Kamel’s first feature-length documentary.

The film screening is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion (CDTR), Columbia’s Middle East Institute (MEI), and the Institute for Research on Women and Gender.

Event: “Islam and Democracy in Nigeria”

A talk by
Sada Abubakar, Sultan of Sokoto, Nigeria

Date: Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Time: Noon
Location: International Affairs Building, Room 1512

The Sokoto Caliphate, established in 19th Century West Africa, was one of the largest pre-colonial political systems in Africa, and has been part of the political/ cultural experience of 14 of the current 36 states in Nigeria. The new Sultan of Sokoto, in this historic visit at Columbia University, will focus on the lessons of the Sokoto experience in areas of rule of law, federalism, conflict resolution, and consultative mechanisms, which clearly impact prospects for Democracy in Nigeria. The Sultan, who spent 31 years in the Nigerian Army prior to his selection at the 20th Sultan in November 2006, will make initial remarks, followed by questions and discussion.

This talk is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion (CDTR) and the Institute of African Studies (IAS). Reception will follow.

Event: “Religious Resistance under the Nazi Regime and in the GDR”

A talk by
Dr. Bernard Vogel
Chairman of Konrad-Adenauer Foundation

Date: Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Time: 4:00-5:30pm
Location: International Affairs Building, Lindsay Rodgers Room, 7^th Floor

In his talk, Dr. Bernard Vogel discusses the magnitude by which religion and religious groups have been a major driving force for political resistance both during the Nazi-regime in Germany and during the communist regime in the former GDR. Political resistance in both regimes, he argues, was deeply rooted in the Catholic and in the Protestant Church. Both churches also served, at times unsuccessfully, as protective shields against political oppression and persecution. In a subsequent part, Dr. Vogel addresses the lessons learned from these two periods of totalitarian and oppressive regimes that served as a major basis for the development of the German political system.

Dr. Bernard Vogel holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Heidelberg University and has served as Minister President (Governor) of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1976-1988, as Minister President of the State of Thuringia from 1992-2003. He is currently the Chairman of the Konrad-Adenauer Foundation. His publications include “Ten Years of German Unity” (2000), “Taking Care of the Future” (2002), and “Religion and Politics” (2003).

This talk is co-sponsored by The Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion (CDTR), the Jewish Theological Seminary, and the Institute for the Study of Europe (ISE).
Reception will follow the talk.

For further events at CDTR and to subscribe to the CDTR newsletter, please visit http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/cdtr/.

Event: "India: Religious and Caste Profile of Elected Politicians in 16 States from 1952 to 2006"

A talk by
Christophe Jaffrelot
Director of CERI
Professor at Sciences Po

Introduction by Alfred Stepan
Director, Center for Democracy, Toleration and Religion
Wallace S. Sayre Professor of Government

Date: Monday, October 1, 2007
Time: 4:30pm
Location: International Affairs Building, Room 1512

Christophe Jaffrelot is Director of CERI (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales) at Sciences Po (Paris), Research Director at CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), and a Professor at Sciences Po. He is the director of the quarterly journal Critique Internationale. His most recent publications are The Hindu nationalist movement and Indian politics, 1925 to 1990s, New York, Columbia University Press; London, Hurst and Co; New Delhi, Penguin India, 1996 (second edition, 1999), India's Silent Revolution. The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India, London/ Hurst, New York/Columbia University Press, New Delhi/Permanent Black, 2003 and Dr. Ambedkar and Untouchability. Analysing and Fighting Caste, London/Hurst; New York/Columbia University Press and New Delhi/Permanent Black, 2005. He has also edited with T.B. Hansen, The BJP and the Compulsions of Politics in India, Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1998 (second edition, 2000).

This talk will present the results of a team work based on the data collected by 15 French and Indian scholars over the last 6 years.

This work will be published in the coming months; it shows that the changing profile of the Indian local politicians who are returned to the state legislative assemblies does not follow the same path all over the Indian federation. Paradoxically, the rise of the plebeians is more pronounced in the North than in the South and the West where, historically the upper caste elite has been dislodged from power much earlier. In contrast, the growing under representation of the Muslims is rather evenly spread and aggravates the growing alienation and frustration of the largest Indian religious minority.

This event is co-sponsored with the Alliance Program and the Southern Asian Institute.

A reception and book signing will follow the talk.

Event: "Islam and Indonesian Attitudes Towards the U.S."

Syafi'i Anwar
Ford Foundation Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institutions

Date: Thursday, September 27, 2007
Time: 5-7pm
Place: Room 1118, International Affairs Building

Dr. Syafi'i Anwar is a Ford Foundation Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Executive Director of the International Center for Islam and Pluralism in Jakarta. He received his Ph.D. from University of Melbourne, Australia. He also has an M.A. in Law and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Indonesia. Dr. Syafi'i Anwar is an expert on interfaith dialogues, religious pluralism, contemporary Indonesian politics and contemporary political Islam in world politics. He is a founder and executive director of the International Center for Islam and Pluralism in Jakarta and is currently a Ford Foundation Visiting Fellow at Brookings Institution.

Dr. Anwar's selected publications include "Political Thought: The Contest Between Radical-Conservative Islam and Progressive Liberal Islam in Post-Soeharto Indonesia", in T.N. Srinivasan, ed., The Future of Secularism (Oxford University Press, 2007);  "Islamku, Islam Anda, Islam Kita: Kumpulan Artikel Terpilih Mantan Presiden RI KH Abdurrahman Wahid" (My Islam, Your Islam, and Our Islam: Selected Articles of Former Indonesian President KH Abdurrahman Wahid), Editor and Foreword (The Wahid Institute, 2006); "Shari'a, Pluralism, and Prospect of Democracy in Post-Soeharto Indonesia, "European Union (December 2006); "Islam, Shari'a, and Democracy in the Muslim World: Between and History", Center for Moderate Muslim Indonesia (2/16/06).

The event is sponsored by the Center for Democracy, Toleration, and Religion (CDTR) and the Conflict Resolution Working Group (CRWG).

For further information about upcoming talks and other events at CDTR, please visit http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/cdtr/.

Event: "What Islam, Whose Islam? The Struggle of Women's Rights Within a Religious Framework: The Experience of Sisters in Islam"

A Brownbag Discussion with Zainah Anwar
Executive Director of Sisters in Islam

Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Time: 12-2pm
Location: International Affairs Building, Room 1118

A former journalist and member of Malysia's Human Rights Commission, Zainah Anwar will address Islam, women's rights, and the challenges Islamic women face to bring about an understanding of Islam that recognizes justice, dignity and equality.

The brownbag is co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion (CDTR), the International Media and Communications Concentration, as and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute.