News
Sports
ENLARGE
CARBONDALE — Opening the second year of the Roaring Fork Cultural Council series of dialogues this weekend will be Muslim scholar Dr. Nabil Echchaibi, speaking on the challenges for Islam in the modern world.
Echchaibi, an author and assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will be speaking and participating in a dialogue moderated by Cultural Council co-founder Roy Davidson starting at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Thunder River Theatre, 67 Promenade, in Carbondale.
He opens an impressive series lineup this year that will include former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who will be coming to Carbondale this summer at a date to be announced, according to Roaring Fork Cultural Council co-founder Jim Calaway.
The Cultural Council began last year, working with Colorado Mountain College and Thunder River Theatre to bring nationally and internationally known figures to the Roaring Fork Valley, speaking on cultural, political and ecological issues in their areas of expertise.
Dr. Echchaibi was born and raised in Morocco. His writing and research focus on the intersections between Islam, Arab popular culture and the media. He considers how the Muslim identity has been shaped by transnational television and interactive media.
He plans to discuss the challenges of speaking for Islam in the face of dramatic events such as the tragic shootings at Fort Hood, allegedly carried out by Muslim American soldier Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.
Echchaibi's writings also appear on his blog, at www.nabilechchaibi.com/blog.
“It became ever clearer to me after our conference on Islam and the Media that journalists do not work hard to seek out alternative Muslim voices to counteract the extremism of radical Islam,” he wrote in a Jan. 15 blog entry about a recent conference in Boulder.
“Everywhere you look, the debate on Islam is acrimonious, unidimensional, and excessively security-based. Lots of Muslims have been hard at work creating new spaces for a different kind of debate that is constructive and less polarized,” Echchaibi wrote.
In addition to Albright's visit in August, other confirmed series speakers this year include:
April 17 — Bob Steele, former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs and undersecretary of U.S. Treasury, and now chairman of the Aspen Institute board of trustees, talking about “Wall Street and Main Street” and the recent bank bailouts.
July 9 — Elaine Pagels, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and professor of religion at Princeton University.
Nov. 13 — Steven Emerson, investigative reporter who has done extensive research into radical Muslims in the U.S., and author of “Jihad in America.”
Tickets for Saturday's event is $10, and seating is limited. For more information, visit www.rfculturalcouncil.org.
jstroud@postindependent.com
Echchaibi, an author and assistant professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will be speaking and participating in a dialogue moderated by Cultural Council co-founder Roy Davidson starting at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Thunder River Theatre, 67 Promenade, in Carbondale.
He opens an impressive series lineup this year that will include former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who will be coming to Carbondale this summer at a date to be announced, according to Roaring Fork Cultural Council co-founder Jim Calaway.
The Cultural Council began last year, working with Colorado Mountain College and Thunder River Theatre to bring nationally and internationally known figures to the Roaring Fork Valley, speaking on cultural, political and ecological issues in their areas of expertise.
Dr. Echchaibi was born and raised in Morocco. His writing and research focus on the intersections between Islam, Arab popular culture and the media. He considers how the Muslim identity has been shaped by transnational television and interactive media.
He plans to discuss the challenges of speaking for Islam in the face of dramatic events such as the tragic shootings at Fort Hood, allegedly carried out by Muslim American soldier Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan.
Echchaibi's writings also appear on his blog, at www.nabilechchaibi.com/blog.
“It became ever clearer to me after our conference on Islam and the Media that journalists do not work hard to seek out alternative Muslim voices to counteract the extremism of radical Islam,” he wrote in a Jan. 15 blog entry about a recent conference in Boulder.
“Everywhere you look, the debate on Islam is acrimonious, unidimensional, and excessively security-based. Lots of Muslims have been hard at work creating new spaces for a different kind of debate that is constructive and less polarized,” Echchaibi wrote.
In addition to Albright's visit in August, other confirmed series speakers this year include:
April 17 — Bob Steele, former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs and undersecretary of U.S. Treasury, and now chairman of the Aspen Institute board of trustees, talking about “Wall Street and Main Street” and the recent bank bailouts.
July 9 — Elaine Pagels, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and professor of religion at Princeton University.
Nov. 13 — Steven Emerson, investigative reporter who has done extensive research into radical Muslims in the U.S., and author of “Jihad in America.”
Tickets for Saturday's event is $10, and seating is limited. For more information, visit www.rfculturalcouncil.org.
jstroud@postindependent.com
