Muslim conference comes to IU

This weekend, IU will host the 32nd annual Association of Muslim Social Scientists conference, which will explore the "Muslim Presence" in American and European societies. \nThe conference is titled "East meets West: Understanding the Muslim Presence in Europe and North America." It will take place from the Sept. 26-28 and feature over 50 leading scholars from universities all over the world, including Harvard University, Hong Kong University, Toronto University and the University of Milano-Bicocca in Italy. \nDr. Ali Mazrui from State University of New York-Binghamton, will give the keynote address, "A Marriage of Two Civilizations? The Balance Between Western Norms and Muslim Values." \nProfessor Nazif Shahrani, chair of the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures Department and director of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Program, said Mazrui's address will "highlight some of the key concerns of seven million American Muslims and perhaps twice as many Muslims living in Europe in the highly charged environment of post 9/11/01." \nAmong scholars from all over the world, several IU students and professors will be actively involved in the event, giving lectures or helping out. \nMembers of the Muslim Student Union plan to volunteer during the conference, said MSU Vice President Yoga Prakasa. Prakasa expressed interest in some of the people scheduled to speak, such as IU School of Education Ph.D. student Shabana Mir.\nMir, a former officer of the MSU, said she will speak about "the ways that Muslim undergraduate women deal with alcohol." \nMir said that campuses like IU, where alcohol is prevalent, put Muslim undergraduate women in a situation where they want to dispel negative stereotypes about themselves by conforming. Mir listed "terrorist," "aggressive," "boring" and "weird" as some of the stereotypes applied to Muslim women. \n"It's a combination of being Muslim, being a woman and being on a campus where you want to fit in but you can't because of this one little thing," Mir said. \nYesim Kaptan, graduate student in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology, will be speaking about Turkish religious festivals. \n"I will try to analyze the traditional practices which are conducted in the Turkish students community at Indiana University," Kaptan said. "I will examine the re-construction and transformation of tradition and identity of the Turkish people when they are living in a foreign country."\nKaptan, who came to IU from Turkey last year, stressed the importance of understanding people from other cultures. \n"I think not only for Americans, but for everybody," Kaptan said. "It is significant to understand the foreigners and their culture from their point of views. In order to solve the conflicts, it is necessary to come closer to understanding people's different norms, values and attitudes."\nShahrani said he hopes the conference will change notions of Muslims caused by the negative media focus following 9/11. \n"For the scholars and those who attend the panels, it is hoped that free exchange of ideas and better understanding of the shared values of American Muslims with those of their other American compatriots will emerge," he said. "We hope to dispel the popular misconception created by certain elements of the mass media in the U.S. that Islam is an exotic religion of 'others' outside of Europe and America and is the cause of conflict between the East and the West."\nShahrani said the participants' experiences should make for an interesting and informative event.\n"We are looking forward to the arrival of the conference participants, an international body of social scientists studying Islam and Muslim societies and culture," he said.\nRegistration is required in order to attend the conference. The cost is $55 for AMSS members, $65 for non-members and $25 for students. Tickets for the banquet where Mazrui is speaking cost $35 for non-members and $25 for students. Complete information is available at the AMSS Web site at http://www.amss.net/home.asp. \n-- Contact staff writer James E. Klaunig Jr. at jklaunig@indiana.edu.