Minor Matters: Muslim/Christian, Asian/African

The title evokes the subject of Lawrence's Carnegie Project (2008-2010): minority citizenship in places of Africa and Asia that have mixed communities, communities that might be religiously marked as Christian and Muslim, even though each has other cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and locational markings. The key issue is not minorities or religion, but citizenship and public space. Neither Islam nor Christianity is an independent variable, neither Muslims nor Christians, autonomous religious actors. So how does one avoid what Lawrence calls the vortex of circularity while also engaging the everyday pragmatics of citizenship in communities marked as Christian and Muslim? That is the challenge of his Carnegie project, and also the topic of this Wednesday @ the Center discussion. Bruce Lawrence earned his PhD. from Yale University in the History of Religions: Islam and Hinduism. His research ranges from institutional Islam to Indo-Persian Sufism and also encompasses the comparative study of religious movements. He currently serves as the Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Professor of the Humanities at Duke University, where he also directs the Duke Islamic Studies Center. His recent books have included On Violence - A Reader (with Aisha Karim); Messages to the World, The Statements of Osama Bin Laden; The Quran, A Biography; and, with his spouse, dr. miriam cooke, Muslim Networks from Hajj to Hip Hop.