FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 21, 2003

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119

DRAKE SPEAKER TO EXPLORE 'ISLAM BEYOND VIOLENCE'

Scott Kugle, A practicing Sufi Muslim and assistant professor of religion at Swarthmore College, will discuss "Islam Beyond Violence" when he gives the Drake University Stringfellow Lecture on Religion at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 31, at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Student Center, 1150 28th St. The lecture is free and open to the public.

At a time in which so many recently minted "experts" on Islam profess an ability to explain Islam to an American audience, professor Kugle is an American-born Muslim and a scholar of ancient Islam who can speak to the heart of many matters of interest, said David Wellman, visiting professor of religion at Drake. "His talk of an Islamic approach to non-violence should provide a much needed corrective to what has often become a very one-dimensional view of Islam among westerners. Americans are in need of authentic interpreters of Islam who have experience in speaking with audiences who are not familiar with this faith tradition. For this reason and many others, professor Kugle's visit to Drake should prove to be both timely and compelling, both for students and faculty, as well as the wider community of Des Moines."

Professor Kugle specializes in the study of comparative religion and Islam, ethics and Islamic cultures and Islamic mysticism. He received his Ph.D. from Duke University and has focused much of his most recent work on the different expressions of Islam in Pakistan and Morocco. He has studied a wide array of topics including Islamic sainthood, the struggles involved in following the Sufi path of Islam, law and ethics in Islamic societies, colonial politics, social violence and the translation of Islamic poetry.

"Throughout his work, Kugle has grappled with the need for solidarity among different religious traditions - the very real work we now face," Wellman said. "With the war with Iraq and the increasing discrimination Muslims are facing in the United States, those who have a vision of non-violence become all the more important," he added. "Professor Kugle's lecture will ground his audience in the foundation of the future we must build, as we seek a deeper level of understanding and cooperation between Muslims and non-Muslims."

The Stringfellow Lectureship is a memorial to the late Ervin E. Stringfellow, professor of New Testament language and literature at Drake for 41 years. The lectureship was established by the Cornerstone Class of First Christian Church in 1962. This year's lecture is co-sponsored by Drake's Department of Philosophy and Religion and the Drake Humanities Center.

For more information, contact David Wellman at (515) 271-2885 or send an e-mail message to david.wellman@drake.edu.