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MARIAL CENTER COLLOQUIUM Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im (Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law, Emory University) Inter-religious Marriage Among American Muslims: Some Theoretical Reflections Wednesday, Nov. 1, 4:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, a native of Sudan, is an internationally recognized scholar of Islam and human rights, and human rights in cross-cultural perspectives. Professor An-Na'im teaches courses in human rights, religion and human rights, Islamic law, and criminal law. His research interests include constitutionalism in Islamic and African countries, and Islam and politics. He directs several research projects that focus on advocacy strategies for reform through internal cultural transformation. There are two main aspects to his work, both arising from his personal experiences as a Muslim from northern Sudan struggling to reconcile his Islamic faith and identity with his commitment to universal acceptance of and respect for human rights. First, he is striving to promote two interrelated objectives, namely, a liberal modernist understanding of Islam, and the cultural legitimacy and practical efficacy of international human rights standards. This side of his vision and commitment has resulted in a wide range of publications, particularly in relation to Islamic and African societies. Second, he is concerned with rendering scholarship in the effective service of positive social change, especially in relation to the twin objectives mentioned above. This concern is reflected in his work in human rights advocacy in general, as well as the development and implementation of several public policy-oriented projects since he joined the faculty of Emory Law School in 1995. In his talk, Professor An-Na'im will discuss inter-religious marriage among Muslims, in relation to issues of immigration, integration and multiculturalism in the American context. He holds an LLB (Honors) University of Khartoum, Sudan; 1970; LLB (Honors) and Diploma in Criminology, University of Cambridge, England, 1973; and PhD in Law, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, 1976. His previous positions include associate professor at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, until 1985; visiting professor of law at the University of California at Los Angeles, 1985-87; Ariel F. Sallows Professor of Human Rights at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, 1988-91; Olof Palme Visiting Professor at Uppsala University, Sweden, 1991-92. He was executive director of Human Rights Watch/Africa 1993-95, before joining the faculty of Emory Law School in 1995. Professor An-Na’im is the author of African Constitutionalism and the Contingent Role of Islam (2006); and Toward an Islamic Reformation: Civil liberties, human rights and international law (1990) (translated into Arabic, Indonesian, Russian and Farsi). His edited publications include Human Rights under African Constitutions (2003); Islamic Family Law in a Changing World: A Global Resource Book (2002); Cultural Transformation and Human Rights in Africa (2002); The Cultural Dimensions of Human Rights in the Arab World (in Arabic, 1994); Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspectives: Quest for consensus (1992); Human Rights in Africa: Cross-cultural perspectives, with Francis M. Deng (1990). He has also published more than 50 articles and book chapters on human rights, constitutionalism, Islamic law and politics. His current project is a book manuscript called The Future of Shari`a: Secularismfrom an Islamic Perspective, with translations in six languages of Islamic societies. It can be viewed at www.law.emory.edu/fs/. His previous projects, all funded by the Ford Foundation and implemented out of Emory Law School, include one on women’s access to, and control over, land in seven African countries ( www.law.emory.edu/WAL), another on a global study of the theory and practice of Islamic Family Law ( www.law.emory.edu/ifl), and the third a fellowship program in Islam and Human Rights ( www.law.emory.edu/IHR).
DIRECTIONS TO THE MARIAL CENTER The MARIAL Center is located on the 4th floor of the main building of Emory's Briarcliff Campus, 1256 Briarcliff Road. There is ample parking close to the building. Alternatively, you may take the Emory shuttle (Route B). The Emory shuttle (Route B) provides transportation from the main campus to the MARIAL Center every 20 minutes (a 5-10 minute ride). For the shortest travel time, board the shuttle in front of the B. Jones Center or at the corner of Dowman and Fishburne (across from Glenn Memorial) at approximately 4, 24, and 44 minutes after each hour. A complete schedule and the route map are available on the web at http://www.epcs.emory.edu/AltTransp/route-a.htm Please tell the receptionist at the front window
that you are here for the
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