Teaching Islam

Why should you care?

A Historian’s Perspective

Keynote Address

John E. Woods

Professor of Iranian and Central Asian History

and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and the College

University of Chicago

Saturday 18-October-2014

Logan Center for the Arts

University of Chicago

915 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637

Over fifty years ago, Marshall Hodgson (1922-1968), Professor of Islamic Studies, Chair of the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought and author of the Venture of Islam, taught that if a Martian came to Earth in the 16-17th Century, the visitor to Earth would have observed Muslim Civilizations to be dominant. The Ottomans (1301-1923) possessed the most powerful forces on Earth, the Safavids (1501-1736) had a most vibrant culture and the Mughals (1526-1857) had the richest economy.

What would such a Martian traveler to earth see today?

Is our inattention and focus being directed to perpetuate misinformation and conflict?

Teaching Islam

Why should you care?

A Historian’s Perspective

Professor Woods’ research focuses on the history of Turkey, Iran, and Central Asia from the 13th to 18th century with particular interests in the encounter of sedentary and nomadic people in those regions. He is, at present, working on several projects dealing with the age of Chinggis Khan and Timur (Tamerlane). He directed the Center for Middle Eastern Studies for thirteen years and played a central role in its development. Professor Woods has been teaching the popular Islamic History and Society 1000-1700 course — part of the Islamic Civ. core sequence since he came to Chicago in 1970 while completing his a PhD from Princeton University (1974). He is a specialist in several European and Islamicate languages and teaches advanced courses in the study of Persian, Arabic and Turkish manuscripts. He also teaches seminars on: Sources and Methods; the Mongols; the Timurids and the Safavids. Over the past 44 years many of his advisees have gone on to become some of the leading scholars in Islamic Studies. He has published several monographs including The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire (1976 rev 1999) for which he was awarded the Farabi International Award by UNESCO and the Iranian Government. Professor Woods is one of the very few recipients of both the University’s Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching (2007) and the Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2014).

Jamil Khoury will present Meet Mosque Alert which grows out of an online interactive new play development and civic engagement project exploring resistance to the building of mosques in communities across the U.S.

Jamil Khoury is the Founding Artistic Director of Silk Road Rising and a theatre producer, essayist, playwright, and film maker. Khoury holds a M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a B.S. in International Relations from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He is the 2013 recipient of the Actor’s Equity Association’s Kathryn V. Lamkey Award for promoting diversity and inclusion in theatre, and the 2010 recipient of the 3Arts Artist Award for Playwriting.

PUBLIC

ENGAGEMENT

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

ISLAMICATE

MUSIC

The Wanees Zarour and Ensemble will perform a celebratory fusion of classical and modern Islamicate music.

Wanees Zarour is director of the Middle East Music Ensemble at the University of Chicago established by the Music Department in 1997, to provide a performance space in which theoretical, practical and historical interests in Middle Eastern music could be explored, and performers from across the university and the neighboring community could share their expertise and learn from one another. A violinist trained in both Western and Middle Eastern musical traditions, Zarour is well versed in genres from free jazz to Macedonian folk.

Saturday 18-October-2014

Logan Center for the Arts

University of Chicago

915 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL

Saturday 18-October-2014

Program starts 6:30pm

Logan Center for the Arts

Free and Open to the Public

The Middle East Documentation Center

SOUTH ASIAN LANGUAGES

AND CIVILIZATIONS

NEAR EASTERN LANGUAGES

AND CIVILIZATIONS

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY

DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCES

JOHN U. NEF

COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL THOUGHT

Generous Gift by:

Monica Mori