Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Saturday 16 June
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
Location
The Edge, Fed Square
The Atrium Flinders Street Federation Square Melbourne Victoria 3000
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Over four days, our 20 plus speakers – philosophers and theologians, historians and writers, believers and non-believers – will consider what it means to be religious, and what role the voice of faith may legitimately have in the conversations of citizens in a multicultural, democratic state and the community of nations.
Across Saturday, three keynote lectures from distinguished international guests each consider the challenges posed by – and to – faith in the building of modern communities. Following the three lectures, all three keynote speakers will be in discussion with each other, exchanging and challenging one another’s views.
Following on from Modood’s exploration of the challenges of democratic multiculturalism, distinguished scholar and outspoken public intellectual Asma Barlas delves further into the relationship between Islam and contemporary Europe. Born and raised in Pakistan, Barlas was one of the first women to join the foreign service. However, she was dismissed on the orders of the country’s military ruler for her criticism of him, and eventually received political asylum in the US. Barlas has written and spoken eloquently against Western misreadings of the Qur’an, and passionately against Islamic misreadings that would appear to justify the oppression of women.
For the full text of this lecture plus transcripts and recordings of the series, visit our Faith and Culture archive.
Featuring
Asma Barlas
Asma Barlas is a distinguished scholar and an outspoken and esteemed public intellectual, recognised as such in Europe and the US. She has written and spoken eloquently against Western misreadings of the Qur’an, and passionately against Islamic misreadings that would appear to justify the oppression of women.
Barlas was born and raised in Pakistan, where she was one of the first women to join the foreign service. However, she was dismissed on the orders of the country’s military ruler for her criticism of him, and eventually received political asylum in the US.
Barlas is a professor of politics and director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity at Ithaca College, New York. In 2008, she also held the Spinoza Chair in Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Her degrees attest the breadth of her interests: she has a PhD in International Studies, an MA in Journalism and a BA in English Literature and Philosophy.
She writes about Qur’anic hermeneutics, Muslim women’s rights and Western representations of Islam and Muslims. Her best-known book is ‘Believing Women’ in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur’an.