Semi-annual Lecture Series - Dr. Sherman Jackson
This evening is brought to you by the Muslim Students Association in collaboration with the Arab Students Association at Western Michigan University on Friday, March 18, 2011 at 5:30 PM in the Bernhard Center Ballroom. The keynote speech will be delivered by Dr. Sherman Jackson
Almost one quarter of the world's population is Muslim, and approximately 7 million Muslims live in the U.S.A, this event helps bridge the gap between the Muslim community and the non-Muslim community in the United States. Western Michigan University has a substantially large Muslim population; therefore, this especially benefits the WMU community.
In addition, this evening brings Muslims and non-Muslims of all different backgrounds together in one room on the same night. Guests converse with others seated at their tables and discuss different cultures and cultural perspectives.
Biography of Speaker
Dr. Sherman Abd al-Hakim Jackson is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Visiting Professor of Law and Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1991. He has taught at the University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University, and Wayne State University. He will begin teaching at the University of Southern California in 2011. From 1987-1989, he served as Executive Director of the Center of Arabic Study Abroad in Cairo, Egypt.
In addition to numerous articles on Islamic law, theology and history, he is author of Islamic Law and the State: The Constitutional Jurisprudence of Shihâb al-Dîn al-Qarâfî (E.J. Brill, 1996), On the Boundaries of Theological Tolerance in Islam: Abû Hâmid al-Ghazâlî’s Faysal al-Tafriqa (Oxford, 2002) and, most recently, the controversial Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Towards the Third Resurrection (Oxford, 2005).
He is co-founder of the American Learning Institute for Muslims (ALIM), a former member of the Fiqh Council of North America, past present of the Shari ah Scholars’ Association of North America (SSANA) and a past trustee of the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT).
He is featured in the Washington Post-Newsweek blog, “On Faith,” and is listed by Religion Newswriters Foundation’s ReligonLink as among the top ten experts on Islam in America. He is a sought-after speaker and has lectured throughout the US and in numerous countries abroad.
Registration is required and seats are limited.