INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE/ CONVEGNO INTERNAZIONALE
THE JOHN FELICE ROME CENTER
"The Cross, the Crescent and the Ballot Box:
Catholic and Islamic Dialogue on the Rule of Law and
International Democracy Promotion”
« La Croce, la Mezzaluna e la Scheda Elettorale :
Il Dialogo Cattolico – Islamico per lo Stato di Diritto
e la Promozione della Democrazia »
April 2-3, 2008 (2-3 Aprile 2008)
Center for American Studies (Centro Studi Americani)
Palazzo Antici Mattei di Giove, via Caetani Michelangelo, 32, 00186 Roma
Tel.: (39) 06-688-01-613
Open to the Public (Aperto al Pubblico)
Free Entry (Ingresso Libero)
Simultaneous Translation: English-Italian (Traduzione Simultanea: Inglese-Italiano)
Organized by (Organizzato da):
The John Felice Rome Center (JFRC) (Italy)
Loyola University Chicago (United States)
For further information, please contact (Per ulteriori informazioni, contattare):
Anne Wingenter (Rome) awingen@luc.edu (39) 333-760-8404
Peter J. Schraeder (Chicago) pschrae@luc.edu (1) 773-508-3070
The John Felice Rome Center (JFRC) is organizing an international conference, “The Cross, the Crescent and the Ballot Box: Catholic and Islamic Dialogue on the Rule of Law and International Democracy Promotion,” to be held April 2-3, 2008 in Rome.
An important purpose of this conference, which is free and open to the public, is to promote a scholarly, interdisciplinary and inter-religious dialogue between two of the world’s most prominent religions – Catholicism and Islam – over international efforts designed to promote the rule of law and democracy throughout the globe.
The setting for our discussions will be the Centro di Studi Americani (Center for American Studies), which is housed in the Antici Mattei Palace (built between 1598 and 1618) in the heart of Rome (see www.centrostudiamericani.org for directions).
The conference will include participation by renowned international scholars, representatives of the Catholic and Islamic faiths, members of Loyola’s faculty from Chicago and Rome, and members of various Rome-based groups, including the diplomatic community and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and inter-governmental organizations (IGOs).
Lively panel discussions will be an important part of the conference. For example, the panel on theological perspectives will include dialogue between Tariq Said Ramadan, renowned Professor of Islam at St. Anthony’s College at the University of Oxford, and Father John P. Langan, S.J., Cardinal Bernardin Chair of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University.
In addition, the conference will welcome prominent keynote speakers, including Professor Saad Eddin Ibrahim, founder of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies at the American University of Cairo (Egypt) and one of the Arab world’s most prominent spokespersons on behalf of democracy and human rights; and Penda Mbow, professor of history at Cheikh Anta Diop University (Senegal), and one of the world’s leading voices as concerns the rights of women in Islamic societies.
“Policymakers and academics talk extensively about the need to strengthen the rule of law and democracy abroad,” explains Peter J. Schraeder, professor in the Department of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago and conference coordinator. “However, this is one of the first international conferences to bring together world-renowned Catholics and Muslims to highlight the neglected role of religion in such undertakings.”
Although all of the presentations will be in English, an on-site translation service will provide simultaneous translation (English/Italian) for non-English speakers.
For further information, please:
-
Contact our Rome-based press liason: Anne Wingenter, awingen@luc.edu, (39) 333-760-8404
-
Contact our Chicago-based conference coordinator: Professor Peter J. Schraeder, pschrae@luc.edu, (1) 773-508-3070
DAY 1 - WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2
8:30-9:30 AM. Coffee Service
9:30-10:00 AM. Welcome and Opening Prayers
- Welcome: Father Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., President, Loyola University Chicago
- Welcome: Emilio Iodice, Associate Provost and Director, Loyola University’s John Felice Rome Center
- Opening Catholic Prayer: Father John Chandler, S.J., Director of Campus Ministry, Loyola University’s John Felice Rome Center
- Opening Muslim Prayer: Adnane Mokrani, Professor, Institute for the Study of Religions and Cultures, Pontifical Gregorian University
10:00-12:00 AM. Panel #1: Theological Perspectives on the Evolving Role of International Democracy Promotion and the Rule of Law in Catholicism and Islam
- Moderator: Father Mark G. Bosco, S.J., Assistant Professor, Departments of Theology and English, Loyola University Chicago
- Paper: “Theological Perspectives on the Evolving Role of International Democracy Promotion and the Rule of Law in Islam.” Tariq Said Ramadan, Professor, St. Anthony’s College, University of Oxford
- Paper: “Theological Perspectives on the Evolving Role of International Democracy Promotion and the Rule of Law in Catholicism.” Father John P. Langan, S.J., Cardinal Bernardin Chair of Catholic Social Thought, Georgetown University
- Discussant: Father Thomas Michel, S.J., Secretary for Interreligious Dialogue, Society of Jesus
- Discussant: Adnane Mokrani, Professor, Institute for the Study of Religions and Cultures, Pontifical Gregorian University
12:00-2:00 PM. Lunch Break
2:00-4:00 PM. Panel #2: Political-Legal Perspectives: Rule of Law and International Democracy Promotion in Catholicism and Islam
-
Moderator: Jean M. Gaspardo, Assistant Dean for Student Affairs, School of Law, Loyola University Chicago
- Paper: “Political-Legal Perspective: Rule of Law and International Democracy Promotion in Islam.” Emad Shahin, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, American University of Cairo; Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Government, Harvard University
- Paper: “Political-Legal Perspective: Rule of Law and International Democracy Promotion in Catholicism.” Daniel Philpott, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, and Paolo G. Carozza, Associate Professor, Notre Dame Law School
- Discussant: Hamadi Redissi, Professor, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tunis
- Discussant: Thomas F. McInerney, General Counsel and Director, Research and Policy, International Development Law Organization (IDLO)
4:00-5:00 PM. Reception
5:00-7:30 PM. Keynote Address: Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Chair, Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, American University of Cairo. “Toward Muslim Democracies? What Role for International Influences on Promoting Democracy and the Rule of Law.”
-
Moderator: Peter J. Schraeder, Professor, Department of Political Science, Loyola University Chicago
-
Commentary: Daniel Philpott, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
-
Question-and-Answer Session
DAY 2 - ThurSDAY, APRIL 3
9:00-9:50 AM. Coffee Service
9:50-10:00 AM. Welcome
- Welcome: Susana Cavallo, Associate Director, Loyola University's John Felice Rome Center; Professor of Spanish, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Loyola University Chicago
- Welcome: Patrick Boyle, Associate Provost for International Initiatives and Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Loyola University Chicago
10:00-12:00 AM. Panel #3: Women’s Studies Perspectives: Relationship between Gender, Religion and Promoting Democracy and Rule of Law in the Catholic and Islamic Traditions
- Moderator: Marcia K. Hermansen, Director, Islamic World Studies Program, Loyola University Chicago
- Paper: “Relationship between Gender, Religion and Promoting Democracy and the Rule of Law in Catholicism.” Christine E. Gudorf, Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Florida International University
- Paper: “Relationship between Gender, Religion and Promoting Democracy and Rule of Law in Islam.” Nayereh Tohidi, Chair and Professor, Gender and Women’s Studies Department, California State University, Northridge
- Discussant: Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Senior Research Associate, London Middle East Institute, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
- Discussant: Wafa Ben Haj Omar-Khelifa, Program Officer, New Generation and Algeria Programs in North Africa, Freedom House Office in Tunisia
12:00-2:00 PM. Lunch Break
2:00-4:00 PM. Panel #4: International Political Perspectives: Role of Catholic and Islamic Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Inter-governmental Organizations (IGOs) in Promoting the Rule of Law and Democracy
- Moderator: Todd Waller, Associate Director of Student Life, Loyola University’s John Felice Rome Center
- Paper: “Role of Catholic and Islamic IGOs in Promoting the Rule of Law and Democracy.” William T. Loris, Director-General, International Development Law Organization (IDLO)
- Paper: “Role of Islamic NGOs in Promoting the Rule of Law and Democracy.” Gunes Murat Tezcur, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Loyola University Chicago
- Discussant: Antonella Caterina Attardo, Lecturer, London School of Economics
- Discussant: Karim Mezran, Director, Center for American Studies (Rome)
4:00-5:00 PM. Reception
5:00-7:30 PM. Keynote Address: Penda Mbow, Professor, Department of History, Cheikh Anta Diop University (Senegal). “Promoting Democracy and Gender Equality in the Islamic World: What Role for the International Diplomatic Community?”
-
Moderator: Emilio Iodice, Associate Provost and Director, Loyola University’s John Felice Rome CenterCommentary: Claudio Lodici, Adjunct Professor, Loyola University’s John Felice Rome CenterQuestion-and-Answer Session
7:30 PM. Closing Prayers
- Closing Muslim Prayer: Adnane Mokrani, Professor, Institute for the Study of Religions and Cultures, Pontifical Gregorian University
- Closing Catholic Prayer: Father John Chandler, S.J., Director of Campus Ministry, Loyola University’s John Felice Rome Center
The primary focus of this conference is to explore the relationship between two of the world’s most prominent religions – Catholicism and Islam – and the promotion of democracy and rule of law. An important outcome of the global spread of what is typically referred to as the “third wave” of democratization during the last quarter of the 20th century is that scholars and practitioners alike are increasingly prone to speak of democracy as a universal value whose roots can be nurtured in all regions of the world. As a result, discussions within both the academic and the policymaking worlds have gradually shifted from a cold war focus on whether democracy constitutes the best form of governance to whether and to what degree state and non-state actors, including religious organizations, should be actively involved in democracy promotion efforts abroad. These discussions are at least partially fueled by two simple realities: democracy’s status at the beginning of the 21st century as the predominant form of political governance within the international system, and the emergence of an international norm that considers democracy promotion to be an accepted and necessary component of international behavior.
The international dimension of democracy promotion nonetheless remains at best understudied and poorly understood, and in the extreme, hotly debated and criticized by its contemporary detractors. According to its most erstwhile proponents, democracy promotion should serve as the guiding foreign policy principle of the northern industrialized democracies. Some even argue that “exporting democracy” will allow the northern industrial democracies to “fulfill their destinies” within the international system. Opposition to international democracy promotion ranges from the isolationist perspective that countries should focus on their own affairs, including a recognition that other foreign priorities (such as national security) should predominate, to concerns with the negative consequences of democracy promotion programs, regardless of how well intentioned their proponents may be. Some add a cultural dimension to this debate, denouncing international democracy promotion as the attempt at Westernization of the developing world, and in the extreme arguing that it serves as a form of “neo-colonialism” in the international system.
One of the most noteworthy shortcomings within the burgeoning literature on international democracy promotion is the lack of serious scholarship on the role of religion in the promotion of international democratic practices. Early studies of democratization in the 1960s not only ignored the role of religious groups in promoting democratic practices, but assumed incorrectly that “religiosity” would fade as increasingly democratic countries became increasingly secular as well. For example, Seymour Martin Lipset, whose Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics (1960) served as one of the cornerstones of U.S. democratization research during the 1960s, noted that he and his contemporaries harbored significant doubts as to whether Catholic societies were compatible with and indeed hospitable to democracy. This stood in sharp contrast to Pope John XXIII’s encyclical, Pacem in Terris (1963), and the discussion of democracy by the Second Vatican Council in Gaudium et Spes (1965), both of which underscore the Catholic Church’s commitment to democracy and human rights. Indeed, roughly three-quarters of the countries that made transitions to democracy from 1974 to 1990 were predominantly Catholic, leading Samuel Huntington to note that the “third wave” of democratization was “overwhelmingly a Catholic wave.”
The relationship between Islam and democracy especially has been fraught with impassioned debate in recent years, not least of all due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Bush administration’s expressly stated policy of promoting democracy in the Middle East. As lamented by Saad Eddin Ibrahim, one of the Arab world’s most prominent spokespersons on behalf of democracy and human rights, “We have heard repeatedly from scholars and policymakers that there is something called Muslim or Arab exceptionalism, something peculiar about Muslims or Arabs and their culture that makes our countries inhospitable to democracy.” Ibrahim argues that this view of the Arab world is not grounded in empirical reality, especially when one recognizes that two-thirds of the world’s more than one billion Muslims are currently living under democratically elected governments. “These governments are found in such places as Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country with a population of almost 250 million; India with 150 million Muslim citizens; Bangladesh, overwhelmingly Muslim and with a population nearly the same size; Turkey with 70 million Muslims; and Nigeria with more than 60 million,” he continues. “As these figures suggest, Muslim-majority societies and democracy can indeed go together.” These and other issues will be discussed at the conference, with the final proceedings expected to be published in book form.
ANTONELLA C. ATTARDO is a lecturer at the London School of Economics, where she is a specialist of the role of non-governmental organizations in protecting the human rights of refugee and migrant populations. She previously was the head of communications for Minority Rights Group International and researcher with the International Secretariat of Amnesty International. She also serves as a consultant for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Union, with a specific focus on the implementation of international anti-discrimination standards.
MARK G. BOSCO, S.J., has a joint appointment as an assistant professor in the Department of English and the Department of Theology at Loyola University Chicago. He has written on the 20th century Catholic literary revival in England and the United States, as well as on the theological aesthetics of Hans Urs von Balthasar. His publications include Graham Greene’s Catholic Imagination (2005), Academic Novels as Satire: Critical Studies of an Emerging Genre (2007), and Finding God in All Things: Celebrating Bernard Lonergan, John Courtney Murray, and Karl Rahner (2007). He is spending the spring 2008 semester at the John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago, where he has taught courses on “Catholic Writers and Rome” and “The Theology of Pilgrimage.”
SUSANA CAVALLO is professor of Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Loyola University Chicago, and currently serves as associate director of Loyola’s John Felice Rome Center. Her administrative experience includes having served as director of Latin American Studies, graduate program director of Spanish, and chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. A specialist of 20th century Hispanic poetry, women’s narrative, feminist theory, and poetics and prosody, Professor Cavallo is also a poet, translator, pianist, and composer. She has translated into English works by Claribel Alegría, José Hierro, Susana March, and Francisco Brines. She is the coeditor of La poética de José Hierro (1987) and Estudios en honor de Janet Perez: el sujeto femenino en escritoras hispánicas (1998).
JOHN CHANDLER, S.J., is director of Campus Ministry at the John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago, where he also serves as field supervisor for the Deacons and Seminarians of the North American College. He holds Master’s degrees in Counseling Psychology and Communications Media from Canisius College and a Master’s in Pastoral Ministry from St. John Vianney Seminary. He was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant for the study of Philosophy of Medicine and Ethics at the University of Tennessee and pursued Archeological and Biblical Studies through an on-site program in the Middle East sponsored by St. Louis University and St. Mary's University.
MICHAEL J. GARANZINI, S.J., has served as the 23rd president of Loyola University Chicago since June 2001. He has extensive teaching, research, service, and administrative leadership experience at some of the leading Jesuit institutions of higher learning in the United States, including Georgetown, Fordham, Saint Louis, and Rockhurst universities, as well as at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Father Garanzini currently serves on the boards of trustees of Loyola University New Orleans, Fairfield University, and Fordham University. Active in community service, he is known for his work on behalf of children and families. He is a frequent speaker and has published numerous books and articles on issues such as child and family therapy, moral development, and Catholic education.
JEAN M. GASPARDO is assistant dean for student affairs in the School of Law at Loyola University Chicago. Among her various responsibilities are director of the Law School’s study abroad programs in Rome and Oxford, associate director of the Appellate Advocacy Honors Program, and assisting with the general administration of the Law School. Dean Gaspardo has an extensive background in small business and world travel. She speaks fluent Italian and has accompanied the Law School’s summer abroad program in Europe continuously since 1991.
CHRISTINE E. GUDORF is a professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Florida International University. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University in a joint program with the Union Theological Seminary in New York, and taught religious ethics at Xavier University in Cincinnati for fifteen years prior to joining the faculty at Florida International University in 1993. She has published numerous books and articles in various areas of ethics, including Christian Ethics: A Case Method Approach (2005), Catholic Social Teaching on Liberation Themes (1980), and Boundaries: A Casebook in Environmental Ethics (2003). She has also served as president of the Society of Christian Ethics (2007-08).
MARCIA K. HERMANSEN is director of the Islamic World Studies Program and professor in the Department of Theology at Loyola University Chicago where she teaches courses in Islamic studies and world religions. In the course of her research and language training, she has lived for extended periods in Egypt, India, Iran, Jordan, and Pakistan. She conducts research in Arabic, Persian and Urdu as well as the major European languages. Professor Hermansen has published widely in the fields of Islamic thought, Sufism, Islam and Muslims in South Asia, Muslims in America, and women in Islam, including The Conclusive Argument from God (1996).
SAAD EDDIN IBRAHIM, one of the conference keynote speakers, is professor of political sociology and founder of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies at the American University of Cairo, Egypt. He is among the Arab world’s most prominent spokespersons on behalf of democracy and human rights, including serving as founder of the Pan Arab Human Rights Movement, trustee of the Arab Thought Forum, and member of the Arab Democracy Foundation. He is also a member of the Club of Rome. Professor Ibrahim is the author of more than thirty books on Egypt, the Arab world, Islam, and democracy, some of which have been translated into as many as thirteen languages. He currently lives in exile in both Doha (Qatar) and Istanbul (Turkey).
EMILIO IODICE is professor of business, associate provost, and director of the John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago. Prior to this position, he taught business courses at Trinity University (Washington, DC) and served as executive vice president at Skylink USA and as vice president of Lucent Technologies. At the age of thirty-three, Professor Iodice was named by the President of the United States to the prestigious Senior Executive Service. As a top executive in the U.S. Government, he served in the White House, U.S. Department of Treasury, and U.S. Department of Commerce. In the U.S. Foreign Service, he served as minister for commercial affairs at the U.S. Embassies in Rome, Paris, Madrid, Mexico City, and Brasilia. He was raised and educated in the Jesuit tradition and is fluent in Italian, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
JOHN P. LANAGAN, S.J., is the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Professor of Catholic Social Thought and rector of the Jesuit Community at Georgetown University. He has published extensively on just war issues, Catholic social teaching, capital punishment, business ethics, human rights, humanitarian intervention, and the place of religion in public life. He has lectured extensively in Australia, South Africa, Mexico, Peru, Germany, and the United States. He has served on the board of the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs and has long been active in the Council on Christian Approaches to Defense and Disarmament. He has participated in Building Bridges between Muslim and Christian Seminars, most recently in Singapore in December 2007.
CLAUDIO LODICI is an adjunct professor at the John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago, where he is a specialist of international affairs, security policy, decision-making processes, and “third way” policies. He currently works as an advisor for public affairs in the Office of the Speaker of the Italian Senate. He has published several books, including Storia della politica industriale in Italia dal dopoguerra ad oggi (1984), L'America dei Democratici: da Thomas Jefferson a Bill Clinton (1996), and Third Way: The Global Challenge (2000). Professor Lodici also writes a regular column for the Italian-American Democrat, a newsletter of the Italian-American Democratic Leadership Council, and contributes to Italy's oldest scientific review, La Nuova Antologia, established in Florence in 1866.
WILLIAM T. LORIS is director-general of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), headquartered in Rome, Italy. He has over thirty-five years experience in dealing with the legal aspects of development, having served with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Africa and the Middle East, first as Regional Legal Advisor for West and Central Africa, based in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire) and then as Legal Advisor to the USAID Mission in Egypt. Under his leadership, IDLO has recently played a key role in post-conflict reconstruction in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor, and Kosovo. Mr. Loris holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Santa Clara and a Master’s degree in international and comparative law from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
PENDA MBOW, one of the conference keynote speakers, is a professor in the Department of History at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal. She is the recipient of numerous prestigious grants, including a Senior Fulbright award to the University of Michigan, a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center fellowship, and most recently a grant from the National Endowment for Democracy to conduct research on citizenship and the secular state in Muslim countries. Professor Mbow is one of the world’s leading voices as concerns the rights of women in Islamic societies. She has written extensively about the evolution of Islam’s relationship with democracy in Senegal and the interplay between gender, human rights, and religion in the Islamic world. She has also served as Senegal’s Minister of Culture.
THOMAS F. McINERNEY is general counsel and director of research and policy at the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), headquartered in Rome, Italy. He manages legal and technical assistance projects involving lawyers, regulators, and judges from developing and transition economies with a focus on corporate governance, compliance, and social responsibility. He previously worked as counsel and program manager for Social Accountability International, as has been a visiting professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, Hamline University School of Law, and Fordham University School of Business. His most recent publication is Searching for Success: Narrative Accounts of Legal Reform in Developing and Transitioning Countries (2006).
KARIM MEZRAN is director of the Centro Studi Americani (Center for American Studies), the host of this conference, and an adjunct professor of international relations at John Cabot University, where he teaches a course on political Islam and change in the Mediterranean area. He received a Master’s degree in Arab Studies from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in International Affairs from the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at The Johns Hopkins University. He is a specialist of North African politics, security, and foreign policy, as well as the region’s evolving relationship with Europe. He is the author of numerous scholarly publications, including Negotiating National Identity: The Cases of North Africa (2002).
THOMAS MICHEL, S.J., serves as secretary for interreligious dialogue for the Society of Jesus in Rome, Italy, having previously been appointed to the Asia Desk of the Vatican Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and executive secretary of the Vatican Office for Islam. In addition to spending the spring 2008 semester as an international visiting fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center of Georgetown University, he has served as a visiting professor at universities in Albania, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Malaysia, the Philippines, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Father Michel is on the Academic Council of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, the International Advisory Board of the Khalidi Library (Jerusalem), and on the Advisory Board of the Center for Civilizational Dialogue at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
ZIBA MIR-HOSSEINI is senior research associate in the London Middle East Institute of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London. She is a legal anthropologist, specializing in Islamic law, gender, and development. She has published numerous books, including Marriage on Trial: A Study of Islamic Family Law in Iran and Morocco (1993), Islam and Gender: The Religious Debate in Contemporary Iran (1999), and Islam and Democracy in Iran: Eshkevari and the Quest for Reform (2006). She has also directed (with Kim Longinotto) two award-winning feature-length documentary films on contemporary issues in Iran: “Divorce Iranian Style” (1998) and “Runaway” (2001).
ADNANE MOKRANI is a professor in the Institute for the Study of Religions and Cultures at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Originally from Tunisia, he received his Ph.D. in Islamic Theology from Al-Zaytuna University (Tunis), and his Ph.D. in Muslim-Christian Relations from the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies. He also serves as a journalist in the Italian News Agency, Adnkronos International, and as a member of the Scientific Council for Charter of Values of Citizenship and Integration in the Ministry of Interior.
WAFA BEN HAJ OMAR is a program officer for the New Generation and Algeria Programs in North Africa for the Tunis-based office for Freedom House. One program, Advocates for Political Reform in Egypt Program, focuses on long-term capacity building for young, promising leaders of Egyptian civil society. Professor Omar is also one of the founding members of the Al-Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center, a technical non-governmental regional organization devoted to transferring knowledge, sharing experiences, and building capacities in the field of democratic transition. She spent the 2005-06 academic year as a Fulbright researcher in the United States.
DANIEL PHILPOTT is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. He is a specialist of religion's influence on global politics, most notably as concerns democratization, peacebuilding, reconciliation, and the sovereign states system. He is the author of Revolutions in Sovereignty: How Ideas Shaped Modern International Relations (2001), and is currently writing a book, Just and Unjust Peace: An Ethic of Political Reconciliation, that derives from Christianity, Judaism, and Islam an ethic for dealing with the injustices of war, genocide, and authoritarianism. Professor Philpott also works to promote faith-based reconciliation in Kashmir as a Senior Associate of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy in Washington, D.C.
TARIQ SAID RAMADAN is a senior research fellow with St. Anthony’s College at the University of Oxford and visiting professor at Erasmus University (The Netherlands), in addition to affiliations with Doshisha University (Kyoto) and the Lokahi Foundation (London). Through his writings and lectures he has contributed substantially to the debate on the issues of Muslims in the West and Islamic revival in the Muslim world. He is active both at the academic and grassroots levels, lecturing extensively throughout the world on social justice and dialogue between civilizations. Professor Ramadan is also president of the European think tank, European Muslim Network (EMN), headquartered in Brussels. His most recent book is The Messenger: The Meaning of the Life of Muhammad (2007).
HAMADI REDISSI is a professor in the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Tunis (Tunisia) and is spending the spring 2008 semester as a visiting researcher at Yale University. He is the author of several books, including L’exception islamique (2004), Les politiques en Islam: Le prophète, le roi et le savant (1998), Religion and Politics: Islam and Muslim Civilisation (2004), and Le pacte de Nadjd: Ou comment l’islam sectaire est devenu l’islam (2007). He is also the editor (with Asma Nouira) of Maghribi manuscripts refuting Wahhabism in the 19th century, Al-Radd ‘alâ al-wahabiyya fil qarn al-tasa’ ‘ashar – Nusus al-gharb al-islami namuthajan (2008).
PETER J. SCHRAEDER is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago where he is a specialist of comparative foreign policy, international relations theory, U.S. foreign policy toward Africa and the Middle East, and African politics and international relations. In addition to serving as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Tunis in Tunisia (2002-03) and at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal (1994-96), he has held appointments at Somali National University (1985), the French Institute of African Research in Zimbabwe (1996), the University of the Antilles in Guadeloupe (1999), and Loyola's John Felice Rome Center (2003-05). Among his ten books are Globalization and Emerging Trends in African Foreign Policy: A Comparative Perspective of Eastern Africa (2007), African Politics and Society: A Mosaic in Transformation (2004), Exporting Democracy: Rhetoric vs. Reality (2002), and United States Foreign Policy toward Africa: Incrementalism, Crisis, and Change (1994).
EMAD SHAHIN is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the American University of Cairo and a visiting associate professor in the Department of Government at Harvard University. He is a specialist of comparative politics, the Middle East, political Islam, and contemporary Arab political thought. Professor Shahin was the recipient of the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award from the American University of Cairo and has been nominated for the Joseph R. Levenson Memorial Teaching Prize at Harvard. His research focuses on Muslim politics and political developments in the Middle East and North Africa. He is author of numerous scholarly works, including Political Ascent: Contemporary Islamic Movements in North Africa (1997) and Through Muslim Eyes: Muhammad Rashid Rida and the West (1993).
GUNES MURAT TEZCUR is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Loyola University Chicago, where he teaches and carries out research in the areas of democratization, public opinion, and elections within the wider context of Middle East politics and international relations. He is currently working on three interrelated projects: (1) how religious values and political attitudes interact among Muslim politics; (2) the relationship between secularism and liberal democracy; and (3) the evolution of religious group behavior under the dynamics of electoral competition and pluralism. He is currently completing a book manuscript, How Do Political Religious Groups Develop Sustainable Democratic Commitments: The Cases of Iran and Turkey.
NAYEREH TOHIDI is chair and professor of the Gender and Women’s Studies Department at California State University, Northridge, and research associate at the Center for Near Eastern Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her teaching and research areas include sociology of gender, religion (Islam), ethnicity and democracy in the Middle East, and post-Soviet Central Eurasia, especially Azerbaijan and Iran. Professor Tohidi has been a consultant for numerous United Nations projects concerning gender, development and strengthening civil society in the Middle East and post-Soviet Eurasia. She has published widely, including Globalization, Gender and Religion: The Politics of Women’s Rights in Catholic and Muslim Contexts (2001), Women in Muslim Societies: Diversity within Unity (1998), and Feminism, Democracy and Islamism in Iran (1996).
TODD W. WALLER is Associate Director for Student Life at the John Felice Rome Center of Loyola University Chicago and a doctoral candidate in international education at the University of London. He is the former Director of the Center for Democratic Studies and Constitutional Development at The Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center. He has taught service learning courses and coordinated international service projects at a number of universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, University of Denver, Regis University, and Fordham University. He has directed two documentary films in Bosnia Herzegovina. His most recent publication is Cultural Identity in the Balkans: Perspectives on Morality, Identity and Social Justice (2007).