$100,000 given to professor for research

Political science professor Abdulkader Sinno is one of the 21 selected Carnegie Scholars of 2009 and will receive about $100,000.

The 2009 scholars were selected for their research on topics of Islam and Muslims, according to the Carnegie Web page.

On his Web site, Sinno said he will not be teaching during the 2009-10 school year, as he will be on research leave.

IU spokesman Steve Hinnefeld said that Sinno is pleased and enthusiastic about the announcement.

“This is an important and urgent topic because the relationship between Muslim minorities and their governments in the West is problematic on many levels,” Sinno said in an e-mail.

Sinno will be focusing on Muslim submersion into other cultures and representation into Western and European Parliament.

“How do you address such fears on both sides?” Sinno said. “How do you avoid future problems? One of the best solutions is to have the disagreements discussed in the parliaments of Western countries instead of having them translate into conflict in the streets. For that you need effective Muslim parliamentarians.”

Sinno was born into his own civil conflict.

“I grew up in Lebanon’s bloody civil war, which made me very interested in studying conflicts and how to solve them before they cause devastation,” Sinno said.

Sinno emigrated to the United States when he was 18, a year before the war ended in 1991, which left more than 100,000 permanently disabled and about 900,000 displaced from a nation the size of Connecticut.

The money awarded to Sinno through Carnegie Corporation will be used to fund travel and research surveys and experiments as well as cover travel expenses to and from interviews.

Author of “Organizations at War in Afghanistan and Beyond” and editor of “Muslims in Western Politics,” Sinno will be forging a new book tentatively titled “Muslims in Western Parliaments.”

Sinno said he attributes timeliness of the situation with great import.

“This is the time to deal with the roots of tension, before it festers,” Sinno said. “If we don’t, countries like France and Belgium that have large numbers of disadvantaged Muslims who are kept on the edge of society could have their own civil wars in a generation or two.” Sinno added he is “hoping for a better outcome.”