Academic Conversations

Join us for discussion on a research topic or current event!

Upcoming Events

Monday November 11, 2024, 2 pm in the University Center Signal Mountain Room:

Dr. Arsalan Khan, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

"Islamic Piety as Sovereign Transcendence in the Tablighi Jamaat in Pakistan"

Based on Dr. Khan's recent monograph The Promise of Piety: Islam and the Politics of Moral Order in Pakistan (Cornell University Press, 2024)

Past Events

Thursday, March 21, 2024

Film Screening and Q&A: In the Name of God

Directed by Anand Patwardhan. India, 1992, 75 min. Hindi and English with English subtitles.

Description: A pathbreaking documentary that focuses on the plans of the militant Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to destroy a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya, India, said to have been built by Babar, the first Mughal Emperor of India. The VHP claims the mosque was built at the birth site of the Hindu god Ram after Babar razed an existing Ram temple. They are determined to build a new temple to Ram on the same site. This controversial issue led to violent riots and many deaths, culminating in the mosque's destruction by Hindu mobs in December of 1992.