What Chinese Muslims Have to Say About Islamic History
By Jessica Lilu Chen, Ph.D., Islamic Studies and Chinese Religion, Stanford University
and CIS Visiting Scholar at GTU/CIS
This talk will examine Dr. Chen’s efforts to bridge the Buddhist and Muslim traditions through interfaith chaplaincy education. The second portion of the talk will focus on her research documenting historical narratives produced by Hui Muslims in early modern China. Her projects raise questions about how we might rethink the prevailing assumptions and power structures underpinning our understanding of Islam.
Champions of Shari’a: Women and Islam in Somalia
Mark F. Massoud, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Politics and Legal Studies, UC Santa Cruz and
Mellon Visiting Scholar at the GTU/CIS
Gender equality is a key principle of human rights. This talk shows how, in a space where many observers presume law is absent, women are using Islam's foundational sources–the Qur’an (the holy book of Islam) and the Hadith (statements and actions of the Prophet Muhammad)–to promote women’s rights and gender equality.