Featured Events: Text, Audio & Video
Public Lecture Series 2008:
Muslim Youth in Contemporary Australia: Identity, Schooling and Belonging(29 May 2008)
Education is the cornerstone of our search for knowledge. How we transmit knowledge and training and how the method of delivery is adopted to different classrooms is an important area of study. In Australia’s multicultural society, our education system has been constantly updated to cope with the growing diversity in the classroom. The present study by Professor Fethi Mansouri and Ms Sally Percival-Wood from Deakin University focus on this important topic. Their research, which was conducted in conjunction with industry partners as part of an ARC Linkage Project, offers a carefully constructed picture of the challenges faced by Arabic speaking students and some innovative ways to address them.
A transcript of the presentation is available.
Public Lecture Series 2008:
Inside Muslim Minds (8 May 2008)
Professor Riaz Hassan has produced an insightful and provocative account of the processes that affect Muslim lives in his new book, Inside Muslim Minds. Based on extensive research spanning seven countries and covering more than 6,000 respondents, Prof Hassan explores the relationship between piety and socio-political attitude. Interestingly, he suggests that there is reverse relationship between religious devotion and political radicalism. This is an interesting observation as traditional Muslim societies that value personal piety and respect are miles apart from the anti-social behavior of such groups as the Taliban. Another important observation, worth pondering, is the slow degradation of moral values in Muslim societies that are directly affected by Islamic radicalism. This is obviously a highly contentious issue and one that has occupied Prof Hassan.
In Inside Muslim Minds Professor Hassan argues for a new intellectual commitment that honours Islamic heritage yet simultaneously confronts Islamic reassertion and the sense of powerlessness felt by Muslims as they strive to reaffirm their faith in the twenty-first century.
Riaz Hassan (AM, FASSA) holds the prestigious Australian Research Council Professorial Fellowship, at Flinders University. He is also Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology, Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia. He has published 12 books and a host of other scholarly contributions.
Both a transcript and mp3 audio of his presentation are available.
Public Lecture Series 2008:
Pakistani Politics (25 April 2008)
The assassination of Benazir Bhutto last year and the general elections in Pakistan in February 2008 have opened new challenges for Pakistan. We have two international scholars to reflect on the implications of these developments. There are key issues to be considered, among them political stability in Pakistan and the region.
A/Professor Samina Yasmeen is Director of Centre for Muslim States and Societies at the University of Western Australia and has carried out extensive research on South Asia and the politics of Islam. Among his publications is Islam and the West.
Professor William Maley (AM) is Foundation Director of the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy at the Australian National University. His research spans across international relations, the Pacific to the Middle East. He has published extensively, including a book on Rescuing Afghanistan.
Both a transcript and mp3 audio of their presentation are available.
Public Lecture Series 2008:
The Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon (9 April 2008)
The plight of the Palestinian refugees has been a visible reminder of the human costs of the on-going Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The right of return, enshrined in UN resolution 192, has been a key bone of contention in peace negotiations. Neither party seems prepared to compromise on that. In the mean time, Palestinian refugees in neighbouring countries live in a state of limbo, unable to return and unwelcome in their host countries. The Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon embody this torturous situation. As Dr Kylie Baxter has found during her field trip, the sense of despair and hopelessness among the Palestinian refugees is palpable.
Dr Kylie Baxter is a lecturer at the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies and has researched and published on the politics of the Middle East. Her latest book is US Foreign Policy in the Middle East: the Roots of Anti-Americanism.
A transcript, pdf reference copy, mp3 audio and streaming video of her lecture on the Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon are available.
Public Lecture Series 2008:
Multiculturalism and the Islamic Question (13 March 2008)
A transcript of Professor Ghassan Hage's public lecture, "Multiculturalism and the Islamic Question." Additionally, mp3 audio and streaming video are available.
NCEIS Official Launch (23 October 2007)
A slideshow, picasa album and videos from the NCEIS official launch, held at the Sidney Myer Asia Centre, University of Melbourne, are available.
Iftar (3 October 2007)
A slideshow and picasa album are available from the 2007 NCEIS Iftar celebration.