Diane L. Moore (Director, Religious Literacy Project, and Senior Lecturer, Religious Studies and Education, HDS); Azeem Ibrahim (Founder, Ibrahim Foundation); Suhaib Webb (Imam, Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center); Roland Schatz (Founder and CEO, Media Tenor International); Maria Ebrahimji (Journalist & Co-Founder, I Speak for Myself, Inc.).
Co-sponsored by the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program, the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy, The Religious Literacy Project at Harvard Divinity School and the British Council.
Media professionals, public policy practitioners and scholars convene to interrogate prevailing perceptions of Islam and Muslim communities in the US and UK/Europe and offer strategies to overcome the simplistic “Islam-West” dichotomy that has overshadowed the first ten years of our century.
These three knowledge communities (scholars, media professionals, and policymakers) will explore how they can build on and leverage each other’s expertise to promote a more informed, nuanced understanding of Islam and Muslim communities in Western contexts. Discussions will help academics gain a better understanding of the priorities that shape the outlook of policymakers and journalists whose work focuses on relations with Muslim communities. In turn, the event will provide media professionals and policymakers with accurate and balanced analyses developed by scholars of Muslim cultures and societies.
