Islamic Awareness Week
Vanderbilt’s Muslim Student Association hosied its annual Islamic Awareness Week in the beginning of February to help dispel the myths, misinformation, and ignorance regarding Islam. With a full schedule of events, the week was one remembered and celebrated on campus. With the success of last year’s week, this year built on that foundation and went further. Here was the schedule of events:
Meet a Muslim Week
Monday, February 8th – Thursday, February 11th
Students came by our table on the Rand Wall to have a one-on-one conversation with a Muslim student. With so many students never having even met someone of the Muslim faith, this informal and personal encounter went further to break down barriers than anyone could have expected.
Dean’s Dinner on Commons
Monday, February 8th 6:00 PM
Dean Vanessa Beasley was joined by freshman students for dinner and a discussion about Islam and the West at the Dean of the Commons Residence.
Islam 101
Vanderbilt MSA opened Islamic Awareness Week to all to come learn about all the basics of Islam from guest speaker, Rashed Fakhruddin. For this event, Rashed, the current president of the Islamic Center of Nashville gave a presentation about the general beliefs and practices in Islam and help address some common misunderstandings about the religion. All in attendance learned more about Islam from the same presentation that all of the Nashville mayoral candidates have attended during the past election season.
World Hijab Day
The Muslim Students Association and the DistinGuisheD Gamma Delta Chapter of Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc as well as the Margaret Cunningham Women’s Center brought “World Hijab Day at Vanderbilt” as a featured part of Islamic Awareness Week. This interactive event welcomed students to participate by wearing a hijab during the day and reflecting on the experience.
Islamophobia in the West
Vanderbilt MSA, along with the Wesley Fellowship, commemorated the end of Islamic Awareness week with a cap off event. They hosted two renowned guest speakers, Dr. Todd Green and Dr. Jonathan Brown, who addressed issues regarding the misconceptions about Islam. Namely, the focus of the event was Islamophobia in the West. As always, there was a catered FREE delicious dinner as the event was open to all Vanderbilt students as well as members of the Nashville community!
In the first portion Dr. Green, who is an Associate Professor of Religion at Luther College and Vanderbilt alum, broadly covered the main causes and consequences of Islamophobia that have spanned Western history, and also gave attention to the unique factors that characterize the post-9/11 era. Switching gears to the second portion after dinner, Dr. Brown, the Alwaleed bin Talal Chair of Islamic Civilization in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and Director of the Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding, covered the root of Islamophobia with regard to commonly misinterpreted verses of the Quran and life of the Prophet.