Civility: And Justice for Whom?
Schedule of Events: 2009-2010
The Struggle for Women's Equality in the Muslim World
Lecture- Zainab Al-Suwaij
THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER IN THE WASHINGTON D.C. AREA. PLEASE MONITOR THIS WEBSITE FOR RESCHEDULING INFORMATION.
Wednesday, February 10th
Wilson Hall, Room 103
6:30pm-7:30pm, Reception in lobby to follow
Ms. Al-Suwaij is the co-founder and Executive Director of the American Islamic Congress (AIC), a non-profit established in the wake of the September 11 attacks to build interfaith understanding; mobilize a moderate voice in the American Muslim community; and promote civil rights in the Muslim world.
Al-Suwaij’s personal mission is to promote a positive Muslim-American voice that strengthens interfaith relations and addresses the many challenges in the Muslim world. Al-Suwaij was born in Basra, Iraq, in 1971. After participating in the failed 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein (an experience she recounted in a memoir for The New Republic), she fled to the United States. The granddaughter of Basra’s leading cleric, she is a Hashemite, a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. Al-Suwaij characterizes her personal religious beliefs as a hybrid of traditional and progressive.
Al-Suwaij leads interfaith and tolerance programs for mosques, churches, synagogues, colleges and high schools. She has developed classroom curricula; works with the Anti-Defamation League; and serves on Connecticut’s Hate Crimes Advisory Board. She is a board member of George Mason University’s Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution and has been named an Ambassador for Peace by the Interreligious Federation for World Peace. Al-Suwaij has testified to the Senate; briefed the President and Secretary of State; and works with Congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Boston Globe, and Hartford Courant. Al-Suwaij has been interviewed on NPR, CNN, Fox, and Al-Jazeera. She has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Georgetown, and many other campuses. She spoke alongside George Clooney at a massive April 2006 rally to Save Darfur in Washington, DC.
Since the toppling of Saddam Hussein, Al-Suwaij has been working in Iraq to strengthen women’s rights and help rebuild the Iraqi education system. She led the Iraqi Women’s Educational Institute, which trained female civil society activists in principles of democracy and civic leadership. Al-Suwaij co-founded the Iraqi Women Higher Counsel – which successfully lobbied the Iraqi Interim Governing Council to mandate 25% of parliamentary seats for women.
Al-Suwaij’s latest initiative is HAMSA, a project that unites Americans to support human rights activists in the Middle East. She helped launch an essay contest for young Middle Easterners on the importance of individual rights, serving on a judging panel with Azar Nafisi, and Gloria Steinem. Al-Suwaij also directs the AIC’s Washington office, promoting a progressive Muslim agenda to political leaders and policy makers.
This event is sponsored by Project Dialogue, the Office of Religious Life, and the Office of the Dean of Students
Free and open to the public
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Muslim Student Association and Army & Navy ROTC team up to present:
Common Ground: Being Muslim in the Military
This event seeks to acknowledge and create a dialogue about the relationship between Muslims and the Military. Professor Awadh A. Binhazim will speak generally about Islam and touch on fundamental misunderstandings that saturate the media and general society. Captain Darryl Cox, an active military member and a Muslim, will follow by speaking about his personal experience in the military.
The event will begin with an opening reception at 6pm. Light hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be served. Professor Binhazim will speak at 6:30 and Captain Cox will follow.
Please join us Monday, January 25th at the Student Life Center’s Board of Trust Room for this informative and thought provoking evening.
Awadh A. Binhazim was born and raised in Kenya and was educated in Saudi Arabia, Kenya, and The University of Georgia; he is currently professor of pathology at Meharry Medical College. Professor Binhazim’s interest in Islam is in comparative religion studies and contemporary subjects such as the engagement between Islam and the west, education in the Muslim world, tackling the issue of poverty in Muslim communities, and intellectual and economic empowerment of Muslim youth. During the period of 1999 – 2006, Professor Binhazim was elected to the Board of Directors of the Islamic Center of Nashville, TN and served in various roles including Secretary, Director of Public Relations, and Outreach and as Vice President. His extensive work on Islam and Muslims paved the way to the formation of Olive Tree Education; an Islamic outreach and education awareness group that he founded and currently serves as its president. During 2002 – 2008, he was appointed by Mayor Bill Purcell to serve as Commissioner in the Metro Action Commission of Nashville.
CPT Darryl Anthony Cox is an Army Reserve officer on Active Duty orders working under the Operations and Intelligence Section (S-2/S-3) as the Homeland Defense Coordinator, Anti- terrorism Officer, and Physical Security Officer for the Southeastern Medical Area Readiness Group located in Nashville TN. He has served in the Army Reserve for his entire adult working life. CPT Cox previously served as the second Higher Headquarters Detachment Commander, SE-MARSG - Nashville from November 02, 2007 to June 12, 2009. He assumed his current assignment on January 10, 2009.
CPT Cox was born in Memphis, Tennessee to the union of William Cox Sr. and Gloria Cox. Cox was the youngest of 4 sons, (MAJ William Cox Jr, CPT Tony Cox, and Lina). After high school, he studied at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, but earned his Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Memphis and is currently working on his Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Administration at Tennessee State University. Cox converted to Islam in November 1999 after extensive study of the religion. Cox, who is still a fervent student of Islam, has also fulfilled his obligation to perform the Hajj (Sacred pilgrimage to Makkah, Saudi Arabia) and is learning Arabic to get a better comprehension for the Qur’an, because it is the language for which the book was revealed.
This event is sponsored by Project Dialogue, the Office of Religious Life, and the Office of the Dean of Students
Free and open to the Vanderbilt Community
Rescuing our Bankrupt Health Care System:
Looking for answers around the world
Friday, November 13
Student Life Center's Board of Trust Meeting Room
11 AM - Lecture - T.R. Reid
Did you know that in 2007 it was estimated that nearly 60% of all bankruptcies in America were a result of medical bills? In contrast, The United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan, and Switzerland did not report a single bankruptcy connected to medical care costs.
T.R. Reid acknowledges this statistic and many others when investigating foreign health care systems for an answer to American Health Care Reform. In his most resent book, The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care, Reid uncovers the popularized myth that universal coverage must be achieved through “socialized medicine”. Reid looks to fellow affluent, free market democracies that successfully (according to public surveys) provide health care coverage to all. Moreover, Reid discovers during his research that other countries consider health care to be an essential human right. These and many other issues will be discussed during his upcoming talk.
T.R. Reid is a reporter for the Washington Post, a frequent contributor to NPR’s Morning Edition, host of the popular documentary Sick Around the World, and a bestselling author. After attending Princeton University, Reid served as a naval officer before becoming a journalist and correspondent.
Sick Around the World.
Sick Around the World: "A Just Health Care System"
Wednesday, November 11
Sarratt Cinema
5:30-7:30pm
5:30-6:30pm there will be a viewing of the Frontline documentary Sick Around the World. This film, hosted by T.R. Reid, chronicles four countries who have adopted universal health care coverage and unveils how they successfully accomplish the seemingly impossible.
6:30-7:30pm Panelists Ellen Clayton, Sten Vermund, Rep. Jim Cooper, and Michael Burcaham will take on the issue of Justice in the Health Care debate. Is Health Care a human right? How should the legislative process mediate ethics surrounding this issue? (Moderator: Scott Hagen)
Civility in Decline?
The View from the American College Campus
Thursday, September 24
Sarratt Cinema, 6 PM
Lecture - Dr. Pier Forni
Dr. P.M. Forni, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, co-founded the Johns Hopkins Civility Project in 1997. An aggregation of academic and community outreach activities, the JHCP aimed at assessing the significance of civility, manners and politeness in contemporary society. The JHCP has been reconstituted as The Civility Initiative at Johns Hopkins, which Dr. Forni now directs.
The traditional rules of manners, civility and politeness are a time-proven, very effective code of relational skills. A cornerstone Dr. Forni's talks is that being civil is both the decent thing to do and the expedient one. Civility and good manners are areas of human behavior where altruism and self-interest merge. Social skills are a precious asset: They allow us to enjoy harmonious social interactions as they strengthen social bonds. Strong social bonds are necessary for the building and maintenance of social support and also crucial to success at work. Building upon the notion that life is an experience in relating and connecting, my talks aim at improving the quality of both personal and professional lives.
Free and Open to the Public.
VUCast article
Strong, Smart and Nice
Friday, September 25
Branscomb Rec. Room, 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Workshop - Dr. Pier Forni
lunch provided
Restricted to Vanderbilt students, faculty & staff
Dr. Forni will present in a more interactive way the fundamental information conveyed in his lecture. However, attendance at his lecture is not required for the workshop.
This workshop will be geared toward the dynamics of workplace and campus interaction. Dr. Forni believes that quality of service depends on the quality of life of those providing the service, and that a civil workplace improves the quality of life of its workers. Crucial questions are: How do you respond to incivility in the workplace? How do you minimize the opportunities for incivility to happen in the first place? Whan can organizations do? Being civil is a necessary part of the cognitive and emotional kit of today's successful professional. Relational competence is of the essence for leaders in the age of management by consensus and in our increasingly diverse workplace.
Dr. Forni sees our daily existence as defined by the encounter of Self and Other. The presence of others around us shapes our identities, gives us meaning and purpose, and determines—for better or worse--the quality of our lives. If life is indeed relational, it follows logically that to thrive we need relational skills. What these skills are, what they can do for you, and how to put them to use is all the intent of this workshop.
More events coming soon for this year's Project Dialogue!
Office of the Dean of Students | Vanderbilt University
VU#351508 Station B | 2301 Vanderbilt Place | Nashville, TN 37235
615.322.6400 | (fax) 615.343.3702 | Email: deanofstudents at vanderbilt.edu
