‘New Feminist Voices in Islam’ is Jordanian scholar’s topic Oct. 18

A presentation by a Jordanian-born scholar on ‘New Feminist Voices in Islam’ will be the first public lecture offered through the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s new Center for Middle East Studies and Partnerships.

Ibtesam Al Atiyat, a former visiting scholar at UW-Green Bay and now an assistant professor of sociology at St. Olaf College, will speak at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 18. Her talk, free and open to the public, will take place in the 1965 Room of the University Union on the campus at 2420 Nicolet Drive. A reception will follow.

Al Atiyat’s lecture will tackle Islamic-feminist approaches to the liberation of women, and summarize the arguments debated within this newly emerging approach. She will discuss new Islamic feminist readings as well as selected chapters of the Quran, events in Muslim history, and cultural practices often associated with Islam. The presentation will also consider how the approach to women’s rights issues, even when goals are similar, can vary depending on the perspective, whether Islamic-feminist or traditional western feminism.

Al Atiyat received her Ph.D. from the Freie University, Berlin. She is a former program officer for the Jordanian National Commission for Women, and taught previously at the University of Jordan and the German-Jordanian University. During the 2005-2006 academic year she was a Fulbright Scholar-in-residence at UW-Green Bay.

Campus co-sponsors of her visit include the Center for History and Social Change. The primary sponsor, the Center for Middle East Studies and Partnerships, was founded in 2010 to bring together existing academic programs as well as overseas activities, all to provide an academic focus upon one of the world’s most compelling regions. The Center assists and helps promote Arabic language courses, and serves as a resource for the infusion of greater Middle Eastern content into pre-existing courses. In conjunction with the Office of International Education, it helps build and maintain ties to academic institutions in the Middle East, particularly the University of Jordan, and fosters exchanges, trips and partnerships bringing the Green Bay community greater ties to the region.

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