Re-Imagining Self and Other: Knowledge, Power and the Clash of Ignorance
Karim H. Karim
Wednesday, 13 July 2016, 7 PM - 9 PM
SFU Harbour Centre, Room 1900 - 515 W. Hasting St., Vancouver
Abstract:
The twenty-first century exploded into the global imagination with unforgettable scenes of death and destruction. An apocalyptic “clash of civilizations” seemed to be waged between two old foes – “the West” and “Islam.” Much of the interaction between them is characterized by a mutual lack of awareness of the vital role that each has played historically in shaping the other. Western and Muslim civilizations have demonstrated a vast capacity for productive engagement. But this long record of collaborative exchange has not prevented a contemporary escalation of the “clash of ignorance” on both sides. The complexities and subtleties of their mutually beneficial relationship are overshadowed by portrayals of unremitting conflict that promote a continuing cycle of terrorism and war. Canada and other countries have paid dearly in blood and treasure in the last one and half decades of strife, which seems fated to continue for many more years. It is time to re-imagine Western-Muslim intersections.
Karim H. Karim is the Director of the Carleton Centre for the Study of Islam and Professor of Communication at Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication. He has also served as Director of the School and of the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, England, and has been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University. Earlier in his career, he worked as a journalist and then as a senior policy analyst in the Multiculturalism Program of the Canadian government. Professor Karim has delivered several major lectures at venues in North America, Europe, and Asia, including the 2007 Laurier Institute/University of British Columbia Multiculturalism Lecture, which was broadcast to a national audience on CBC Radio 1’s program, Ideas. His most recent publications are the twin volumes: Re-Imagining the Other: Culture, Media, and Western-Muslim Intersections and Engaging the Other: Public Policy and Western-Muslim Intersections. Karim won the inaugural Robinson Prize for his critically acclaimed book Islamic Peril: Media and Global Violence. He has been honoured by the Government of Canada for his efforts in promoting collaborative activities between Muslims, Jews, Christians, and other Canadian communities.
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