2012

British Council – Society – Our Shared Future – Building a Shared Future

Hussein June 21, 2012

British Council – Society – Our Shared Future – Building a Shared FutureBritish Council – Society – Our Shared Future – Building a Shared Future.

One of the key objectives of this conference was to help fill the gap between academic expertise and public knowledge of cross-cultural relations involving Muslims. Participants broke into discussion groups around five themes to pinpoint new, more inclusive narratives to reshape the conversation about intercultural relations. They explored areas of research and partnerships among institutions in the US, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa that can help shed light on deep connections between Muslim and non-Muslim societies in the fields of culture, the arts, humanities and science. Rounding out these discussions, participants had the opportunity to work with media professionals to develop effective messaging and gain practical skills to improve their engagement with online, print and broadcast media.   

The essays compiled in the resulting series of e-books reflect the ideas that participants arrived at the conference with as well as the conversations that ensued throughout its three days. We have produced four books covering each of the themes undertaken at Cambridge: The Power of Words and Images; Islam, Knowledge and Innovation; Citizenship and Identity; and Religion, Politics and the Public Sphere.

Velveteen Rabbi: The voices of American Muslim men

Hussein June 17, 2012

Velveteen Rabbi: The voices of American Muslim men.

Because I’ve been blessed to know Hussein for years, I paid special attention to his essay. He writes eloquently about growing up “painfully normal” in Queens, New York. His grandmother and his grade school were both located in Forest Hills, Queens, “one of the most diverse Jewish communities at the time.” He writes about how he developed racial identity consciousness first, and religious identity consciousness later. (Indeed: as a good second-generation American teenager, he rebelled against his parents, which naturally meant steering away from religiousness. For a while.)

An honest man « Love, InshAllah

Hussein June 8, 2012

An honest man « Love, InshAllah.

We never want to present ourselves in a way that makes us seem less than we think we are. That means we obfuscate, divert, and weave tales of who want to be, both to ourselves and to others. We craft these narratives, and in the telling, there are omissions and commissions. We are not lying or being dishonest, but we are not being honest. We want to be well-thought of by other people.