Center for Religion & Civic Culture

Transnational Islam and Nationalism

December 1, 2009
12:00 PM - 2:15 PM
University Park Campus
University Club

Laurie Brand, “Field Report on Islam and Nationalism in Jordan and Algeria”
Ayse Rorlich, “Islamic Film Festivals and Nation Building”

The Arabic word for charisma — baraka (also the source of our President’s name) — refers to a god-given power to lead people on a holy struggle for liberation. While Islamic liberation has reached the West primarily as a war against “American imperialism,” it is also present in such disparate practices as Sufi dances and whirling dervishes, the spiritual quest for transcendence. This panel features USC College’s Laurie Brand (International Relations) and Ayse Rorlich (History and Slavic Languages and Literatures).
These lectures are presented by the 2009-2010 CRCC Seminar, Transnational Charisma and Traveling Spirits: How Religion Travels Across a Global Landscape, presented in collaboration with the College Commons. The seminar is organized by Janet Hoskins (Anthropology) and Macarena Gomez-Barris.