|
|
| S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| |
|
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
| 12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
17 |
18 |
| 19 |
20 |
21 |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
| 26 |
27 |
28 |
|
|
|
|
THU, Feb 2, 7 PM
“The Coming Reformation of Islam:
A
Conversation”
Who has the authority to define the faith
and practice of over a billion people: the individual or the
institution? Join two brilliant scholars of religion for a
fascinating discussion on the internal conflict within Islam
over the scope and outcome of the Islamic Reformation.
SAT, Feb 4, 2-4 PM
“The Origins, Evolution, and History
of Islam”
What is the essence of this ancient faith?
Is it a religion of peace or war? Can an Islamic State be
founded on democratic values such as pluralism and human
rights? Join Reza Aslan, scholar of comparative religions and
author of No God but God to learn more about a religion shrouded in
the West by ignorance and fear.
Advance Registration Requested.
TUE, FEB 7, 7 pm
“Do Books have
a Future in
the
Digital Age?”
Steve Wasserman, former Editor of the Los
Angeles Times Book Review, will argue that books will survive
as long as the human species is defined by its opposable thumb
and its obsessive need to tell each other stories.
THU, FEB 9, 7 pm
The Bill from My Father:
A Memoir
In conversation with
Kit Rachlis, editor-in-chief,
Los Angeles Magazine
Cooper, an award-winning writer, makes
hilarious and exquisite sense of his father, a cantankerous
octogenarian in a khaki polyester jumpsuit. “A glorious
cornucopia of love and pain.”—Alice Sebold
MON, FEB 13, 7 pm
“Mirror to America:
A Conversation
about
History, Race, Politics,
and the Future of
America”
Franklin, one of the country’s great
historians, has dedicated his life to the pursuit of equality.
He discusses that odyssey with Smiley, one of America’s
premier journalists.
THU, FEB 16, 7 pm
“Good Bad Days
in America:
A
Conversation about
How the Nation
Redeemed Lincoln’s
Legacy”
Two distinguished journalists who were on
the front lines during the civil rights movement discuss the
events that changed America in the 1960s, the unlikely
partnership of black and white leaders who led that change, and
how that crucial epoch continues to affect all of our lives.
WED, FEB 22, 7 pm
March: A Novel
In conversation with
Carla Kaplan,
Professor of English, USC
Brooks’ luminous second novel (after
2001’s acclaimed Year of
Wonders) imagines the Civil War
experiences of Mr. March, the absent father in Louisa May
Alcott’s Little Women.
THU, Feb 23, 7 pm
“Dark Thoughts:
A
Conversation”
It’s often assumed that getting
someone to write is helpful, because it gets them to
communicate. What if getting someone to write is a traumatizing
event? Salzman (True Notebooks) and Loya (The Man
Who Outgrew His Prison Cell : Confessions of a Bank Robber) explore the darker aspects of writing.
|
Sat, feb 4, 2-4 PM
Reza Aslan
Photo © Sara Barrett
 |
Reza Aslan, was born in Tehran, Iran in 1972 and left in 1979 during the revolution to come to the United States. Aslan has degrees from Santa Clara University, Harvard University, and is currently a Doctoral candidate in Religious Studies at The University of California at Santa Barbara. Until recently, he was both Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Iowa and Truman Capote Fellow at the Iowa Writer's Workshop, where he received a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction. He has lectured extensively on the Middle East, and has published numerous articles on the religion and politics of the Middle East.
In 1998 Reza Aslan was elected president of Harvard’s chapter of the World Conference on Religion and Peace, a United Nations organization committed to the cause of global understanding. In that capacity, Aslan brought U.N. Deputy Secretary Denis Halliday to Harvard for his first public appearance since resigning his post as the Humanitarian Coordinator in Iraq in protest of sanctions. His speech received national attention and sparked a worldwide speaking tour. In 1999 after the consecutive nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, the W.C.R.P. under Aslan’s leadership brought the ambassadors of the two countries to Harvard in order to discuss for the first time their shared nuclear future. His work with W.C.R.P. led to a position as legislative assistant for the Friend’s Committee on National Legislation in D.C., where Aslan worked as a liaison to Congress on issues of arms control and the Middle East.
In August of 2000, Aslan was named Visiting Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Iowa, becoming the first full-time professor of Islam in the history of the state. In that capacity, he taught courses in Introduction to Islam, Gender and Human Rights, and Religion and Politics in the Middle East, as well as supervising theses in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the Women’s Movement in Iran, and Gender Violence Laws in Pakistan.
When the Pentagon and World Trade Center was attacked in September of 2001, Aslan put his expertise of the Middle East to work for both the University and the greater Iowa community by traveling throughout the state speaking to public and private organizations, businesses, churches, mosques, and universities. His efforts in Iowa received national attention in such periodicals as U.S.A. Today, U.S. News and World Report, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
In 2003, Aslan left his post at the University of Iowa to concentrate full-time on writing. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Slate Magazine, Boston Globe, the Washington Post, and the Nation. He has appeared on Meet The Press, Hardball, The Daily Show, and Nightline. No God but God is his first book. |
