Year: 2010

Art

NYC Art Show: Amygdala Machine I

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Created by my friend Kate Howe: AMYGDALA MACHINE I: Tomorrow Kate Howe 348 St Marks Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11238 May 13 – June 19, 2010 Standard procedure saves time and energy in every arena. I once read that when we get out of the shower, we towel ourselves off in the same series of motions, taking the same amount of time, every day. We take the same route to work and wear our heels out in the same lop-sided way. We date the same people in different bodies, respond the the same ad campaign in a different season, repeat the…

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Books

Interview with G. Willow Wilson

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Rearrange Your Head: An Interview with American Muslim Convert and Memoirist G. Willow Wilson | RDBook | ReligionDispatches. Sheikhas and alimas [female spiritual and religious authorities], if you can find any — and you have to look pretty hard — will totally change the way you think about Islam and gender. There is a long and revered tradition of female scholarship in this religion, but it’s dying out. Most of the female scholarship we have now is part of a new tradition—postmodern academia—not a continuation of the old. Old school sheikhas, educated the traditional way, will rearrange your head. In…

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Art Politics

Asia Society Releases Report on the Arts

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The Asia Society has released a new report “Making a Difference through the Arts: Strengthening America’s Links with Muslim Communities in Asia.” I haven’t read the whole thing yet, but it looks very interesting. From the Executive Summary: This report offers examples of the diverse ways in which stakeholders in cultural development and ex- change initiatives in and with Asian Muslim communi- ties have built successful projects by drawing on cultur- ally grounded knowledge and strategies . The panoramic range of projects, the impressive degree of imagination and innovation with which they have been designed and carried out, and the…

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Film Intra-faith

The My Name is (Not) Khan Saga Continues

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I recently published a criticism of the film “My Name is Khan,” and of MPAC for honoring the film. I was negligent in providing MPAC’s response. In the interests of being complete, attached are three documents. The original letter criticizing MPAC; MPAC’s response; and the response to MPAC. To be clear, I have not seen the movie, so cannot comment intelligently on this debate. However, it is important for me to show the diversity of thought in the Muslim-American community and the fact that we do have debates. I applaud both groups for having the courage to discuss this publicly…

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Conferences

ACLU Event: Face to Face: Confronting the Torturers #torture

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This week, the ACLU will be co-hosting an event at the annual PEN World Voices Festival. “Face to Face: Confronting the Torturers” will take place on Thursday April 29 at 9:30 p.m. at Joe’s Pub in Manhattan. The program will include dramatic readings meant to provoke reflection on what it means to “confront” torturers, both figuratively and literally (more information below). Tickets can be purchased online here or at the door.

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Conferences

Yosef Tobi at Hofstra

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Professor Yosef Tobi of Haifa University will be presenting a talk entitled “The Legal Status of the Jews in Muslim Yemen, 897-1948″ at Hofstra University on Tuesday, April 27 at 9:35 am in 201 Barnard Hall. This lecture is sponsored by the Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies Program and the program in Jewish Studies at Hofstra. Dr. Tobi is one of the leading experts on the history of Yemenite Jews and has written several important books on the topic, including The Jews of Yemen: Studies in their History and Culture (1999). For a review of Dr. Tobi’s The Jews…

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Intra-faith

Contact MPAC to Express Your Concern about their Awarding of “My Name Is Khan”

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Updated call from the original, incorrect one I had posted earlier: Dear Concerned Muslim American Community Member: As Salaamu Alaykum. In February of this year, a new Bollywood film, My Name is Khan, opened in U.S. theaters. Although it is claimed that the film promotes tolerance and understanding, My Name is Khan presents our diverse and dynamic American Muslim community through a “Good Muslim/Bad Muslim” lens that does an injustice to our community and reproduces racist stereotypes about African Americans. For a cogent review of the film, please read Su’ad Abdul Khabeer’s article “Khan Breaks New Stereotypes (but Reinforces Old…

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