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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

Religious scholar Reza Aslan to speak at IU

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Reza Aslan, a scholar of religion and well-known author, will speak as part of Islamic Awareness Week from 7:30 to 9 tonight at the Indiana Memorial Union Alumni Hall.
Aslan, whose July 2013 Fox News interview gained viral levels of attention, will discuss diversity. His newest book, “Zealot: the Life and Time of Jesus of Nazareth,” is a No. 1 New York Times Bestseller.

Romaze Akram, president of the IU Muslim Student Union, said Aslan’s lecture will focus on unity within the diversity of religions and cultures.

“He’s going to talk about how although we are all different in America with religion, things we like and everything, we can find unity within that diversity and accept each other even though we are different,” he said. “He is going to intertwine his personal story into that.”

Akram said Aslan’s lecture is about eliminating negative stereotypes of Muslims.

“During this week, we wanted to have events that showcased real Muslims, so people could see that Muslims aren’t really much different from your typical Americans, and that we definitely don’t fulfill the radicalized stereotype portrayed by the media,” he said in a March 4 IU press release.

Now an author of several books, Aslan’s first published work was “No god but God: the Origins, Evolution and Future of Islam,” an international bestseller that has been translated into 17 languages.

Aslan is a contributing editor for the Daily Beast, an American online news and opinion publication. His articles have been published in the L.A. Times, New York Times and
Washington Post, among other publications.

Aslan was born in Iran and received his Ph.D. in the sociology of religions from the University of California Santa Barbara. He went on to receive a master’s of fine arts from the University of Iowa.

In addition to writing, Aslan teaches in the religion and creative writing programs at the University of California Riverside. He is an associate professor of creative writing and cooperating faculty in the Department of Religion.

Akram said Aslan’s experience in different cultures makes him someone everybody can learn from.

“The thing about Reza Aslan is he is so well-educated and he’s such an expert on what he’s going to be talking about,” Akram said. “It’s crucial for you to know what to expect when you might not be in Bloomington, so having programs that talk about diversity and how to appreciate the differences we all have is crucial.”

Aslan is also the founder of AslanMedia, a social media network for news and
entertainment about the Middle East and the world.

He also co-founded and is the chief creative officer of BoomGen Studios. BoomGen is an entertainment brand for creative content from or about the Greater Middle East.
Union Board worked with the Muslim Student Union to plan the event for Islamic Awareness Week. They wanted to do something memorable and something people would want to come to, Romaze said.

While Union Board marketed the event through social media and set up the venue, MSU was in direct contact with the agency and marketed to religious studies classes. In addition to presenting this evening, Aslan will be sharing lunch and dinner with Union Board and MSU.

Victoria Stevens, Union Board Canvas director, said the lecture will be beneficial to IU’s diverse student body.

“Especially with this campus being so diverse, I think students hearing from him talking about diversity can really help them begin to understand how to come together as a university,” she said. “It’s great for IU because he’s so great at what he does.”

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