Impact of Muslim Americans topic of talk

Religious scholar to present research at Cal Lutheran

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Amir Hussain, a professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, will present “Islam and the Building of America.”

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – March 26, 2015) A religious scholar will discuss how American Muslims have transformed the country at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, at California Lutheran University.

Amir Hussain, a professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, will present “Islam and the Building of America” in Ullman Commons 100/101.

For 15 years, Hussain examined how American Muslims have lived out their religion as a minority community in a modern society with issues such as same-sex marriage while dealing with internal differences in observance, sectarian and political affiliation, and socio-economic status. In essence, his research focused on how America has transformed the practices of American Muslims. Currently, Hussain is working on a book project that turns that research question around to ask how American Muslims have transformed America.

At LMU, a Jesuit university, Hussain teaches courses on Islam, world religions and comparative theology. Students voted him Professor of the Year in 2008 and 2009. From 1997 to 2005, he taught at California State University, Northridge, where he received several awards for his teaching and research. He also taught religion courses at several universities in Canada.

Hussain is the author of the 2006 book “Oil & Water: Two Faiths, One God,” which confronts the perception of Islam as a threat to the values of the Christian West. He is the co-editor of the fourth editions of the textbooks “World Religions: Western Traditions” and “World Religions: Eastern Traditions” published in 2014 by Oxford University Press.

He is the first Muslim editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, the premier scholarly journal for the study of religion, and has written more than 50 book chapters and articles. He is on the editorial boards of Contemporary Islam: Dynamics of Muslim Life, the Ethiopian Journal of Religious Studies, Comparative Islamic Studies and the Journal of Religion, Conflict and Peace.

Raised in Canada, Hussain earned a master’s degree and doctorate in religion from the University of Toronto. He also earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto and received the university’s highest award for alumni service.

Cal Lutheran’s Religion Department, History Department and Campus Diversity Initiative are sponsoring the free event.

Ullman Commons is located at 101 Memorial Parkway. For more information, contact Rose Aslan at raslan@callutheran.edu or 805-493-3236.

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