Update December 2021:
Dear Friends,
I hope this finds you well. As you know, due to covid-19, since March 2020 The Salaam Network (TSN) has not been able to hold in-person programs for the community. However, TSN has remained very active and has held numerous virtual programs including:
(i) the Veritas 6-week course of Bellarmine University on “Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Confrontations with Modernity” (Four sessions were held by zoom in August 2020)
(ii) Fall Open Fall Open Campus Course (Three Classes) (via zoom) on “Continuing the Conversation – Add Islam to UU Sources of Inspiration,” at All Peoples Unitarian Universalist Congregation, (October and November 2020);
(iii) A Four-Part Program (via zoom) on “Social Justice – A Jewish, Christian and Islamic Perspective,” at St. Andrew United Church of Christ (November 2020);
(iv) Keynote address by Dr. Riffat Hassan entitled “On Peace and Education: A Normative Islamic Perspective and Contemporary Considerations” at a Virtual Conference on “Peace Education and World Religions,” hosted by the Department of Islamic Theological Studies, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria (October 22, 2020);
(v) On August 9, 2021, Dr. Riffat Hassan was the featured speaker at a zoom meeting sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Kentucky and Southern Indiana for participants of the Inter-Regional International Visitor Leadership Program sponsored by the U. S. Department of State Department on the topic of Women in Politics and Civil Society. Dr. Hassan spoke briefly about her history of international advocacy and told the participants about the setting up of The Salaam Network and its valuable educational programs offered free-of-charge to the community. After her presentation, international participants offered their comments and expressed the desire to continue the conversation with Dr. Hassan and The Salaam Network.
(vi) A SPECIAL MEETING ON AFGHANISTAN for Invited Guests (via zoom) on August 25, 2021 (Guest Speaker: Charles Printz, Human Rights Attorney, New York; Main Presenter: Dr. Rohullah Amin will talk to us from Germany about the ground realities in Afghanistan)
(vii) Dr. Riffat Hassan made a presentation via zoom on “Muslim Women: Qur’anic Teachings Versus Cultural Practices” at a zoom meeting of Christian-Muslim Dialogue of Lexington, Kentucky, on September 25, 2021
(viii) Dr. Riffat Hassan was interviewed via zoom by Edward Stourton for BBC Radio’s “Ethics and Religion” program broadcast on September 26, 2021. The topic of discussion was the current concern about education for women and girls in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover of government and the Islamic theological perspective on this matter.
(ix) Featured presentation by Dr. Riffat Hassan via zoom on “Understanding ‘Honor Crimes’ in Muslim Societies: Case Study of Palestinian Women,” (Film reviewed: “Women of Freedom” directed by Abeer Zeibak Haddad) at the Tafakkur Muslim Film Festival in Taiwan (October 23, 2021)
(x) A SPECIAL MEETING ON BOSNIA for Invited Guests (via zoom) on October 27, 2021 (Guest Speaker: Adelita Bedzetovic Bewley, a 28 year old Muslim woman from Bosnia talked about her experience of being a refugee first in Germany and then in the U.S., and shared her family’s memories of the displacement of Bosnian Muslims by Serbians and the massacre in and around the town of Srebrenica on July 11, 1995, when over 8000 Bosnian men and boys were massacred. Adelita talked about her mixed feelings as a person with more than one homeland, who loved Bosnia though she had never lived there, and her struggle to understand and embrace her divided identity and heritage)
Since September 2020, TSN, in partnership with All Peoples Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Louisville, has been holding meetings (mostly bi-monthly, sometimes monthly) meetings via zoom of a new initiative entitled “Book-Movie Club/Interfaith Study Group” which has been a highly successful educational undertaking. A listing of the Books and Movies which have been discussed may be found on the TSN website https://www.salaamnetwork.org Programs and Presentations 2020 and 2021. During this time a number of distinguished Guest Presenters including Charles Upton, Dr. Craig Considine, Dr. Leonard Swidler, Dr. Matthew Pierce, Dr. Rohullah Amin, Charles Printz, Morgan Atkinson and Adelita Bedzetovic, have addressed the meeting. Anyone interested in joining the Book-Movie Club/Interfaith Study Group should write to Dr. Riffat Hassan at riffat.hassan@louisville.edu.
I want to thank you for your support and look forward to hearing from you.
Warm regards,
Executive Director, The Salaam Network