April 29, 2004

Upcoming conferences

‘Media Coverage of Africa: The Question of Islam’

Nigerian women’s and human rights activist Ayesha Imam will deliver the keynote address at a free and public conference Saturday, May 1.

The conference will explore the ways in which Africa and, in particular, Islam in Africa are covered by international and American media.

Imam’s noon lecture will focus on media coverage of crimes of “zina” (sexual relations outside marriage) under Islamic law. She will examine the case of Amina Lawal, an unmarried mother who was sentenced to death by stoning in Nigeria.

The conference on “Media Coverage of Africa: The Question of Islam” takes place in the McCormick Tribune Center Forum. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m.

A roundtable discussion on media coverage of Africa and Islam at 10 a.m. will include Marda Dunsky, assistant professor of journalism, and journalists from Newsweek, AllAfrica.com, Voice of America and Chicago Public Radio.

‘Jerusalem, City of Three Faiths: Histories of the Past, Present and Future’

Jerusalem — the ancient city holy to Christians, Muslims and Jews alike — will be the subject of a two-day international conference Tuesday and Wednesday, May 4 and 5, at Northwestern University and Chicago’s Fairmont Hotel.

Free and open to the public, day sessions on May 4 and 5 will take place in Hardin Hall on the Evanston campus. The evening session on May 4, hosted by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and moderated by President Henry S. Bienen, will take place in the State Room of the Fairmont Hotel.

“Jerusalem, City of Three Faiths: Histories of the Past, Present and Future” will trace the ancient city’s long history and its political, religious and cultural importance. Sponsored by the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and the Crown Family Center for Jewish Studies, the conference is made possible through a generous gift from the Perlman Family Foundation.

Panelists will pay particular attention to the Temple Mount or, as it is know to Muslims, the Noble Sanctuary (haram al-sharif), and explore how it came to be understood as sacred space within the Holy Land.

The conference is co-sponsored by the Office of the President; Program in Asian and Middle East Studies, Program in International Studies; Department of History; and Center for International Comparative Studies.

It is made possible with the cooperation of the Moshe Dayan Centre of Middle East and African History and the Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation at Tel Aviv University, and the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.

For more, including a full schedule, call (847) 491-2612 Note: Seating is limited.

To ensure seating, call (847) 491-2612 or e-mail jewish-studies@northwestern.edu in advance of the conference.

‘Second Chances in Life: Transformative Stories of Self and Society’

F. Scott Fitzgerald once said “There are no second acts in American lives,” but a symposium at Northwestern titled “Second Chances in Life: Transformative Stories of Self and Society” will present evidence to the contrary.

The symposium from 9 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. Friday, May 7, in Hardin Hall in the Rebecca Crown Center, will feature presentations by six internationally recognized scholars who will stimulate discussion on the possibilities of and barriers to second chances in life. It is free and open to the public.

Dan P. McAdams, professor of education and social policy and psychology, has interviewed and studied hundreds of individuals who have described positive transformation in their own lives, the lives of their families and their social worlds.

“They tell stories of dramatic change in their lives — from addiction to recovery, stagnation to growth, rags to riches, and suffering to redemption,” said McAdams, who also is director of the University’s Foley Center for the Study of Lives.

“Second Chances in Life” will explore how individuals and families account for the second and even third acts in their lives. It will attempt to answer how we as a society understand and imagine positive change for the future, what kinds of stories about our lives we need to construct to sustain our hopes and enhance our lives, and how the stories about ourselves that we imagine, tell and live by affect social policy and our involvement in societal change.

The symposium is sponsored by the Foley Center for the Study of Lives in conjunction with the Family Institute at Northwestern and the School of Education and Social Policy. Seating is limited. For more, including a full schedule and presenter information, contact Gina Logan at (847) 491-5314 or e-mail rlogan@northwestern.edu.