Islam, Muslims and the Global Context is topic of 10th annual Signum Fidei Lecture

Lewis University will host its 10th annual Signum Fidei (“Sign of Faith”) Lecture on March 29, featuring Dr. Scott C. Alexander, associate professor of Islam and director of the Catholic-Muslim studies program at the Catholic Theological Union (CTU) in Chicago. The address is titled “Islam, Muslims and the Current Global Context: Moving Beyond the Media Sound Bites.”

During his presentation, Alexander will address the current context of widespread misunderstanding and divisiveness. He will go beyond the media sound bites and present an intellectually sound framework for understanding Islam and Muslims within the current global and U.S. domestic context. Alexander will focus on Catholic teaching with respect to Christian-Muslim relations. He will also discuss the special role that Catholic institutions of higher learning, especially universities, can play to help the Church fulfill its mission of dialogue, hope and reconciliation within the human family.

Alexander first developed an interest in Islam when he was both witnessing the events of the Islamist revolution in Iran and concentrating in comparative religion as an undergraduate at Harvard University. After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard, he went on to Columbia University in New York, where he earned the master’s and doctorate degree in the history of religions, with a concentration in Islamic studies. Alexander has taught courses on Islam and the history of religions at several universities including Princeton. Visit www.lewisu.edu for further information.

An author of numerous articles on Islamic history and religion, Alexander’s most recent book project entitled “The Race to Goodness: an End to Triumphalism in Christian-Muslim Relations” deals with the inherent contradiction between religious claims to universal truth and the religiously motivated desire to impose this truth on others as a means of political and cultural domination.

In March of 2007, Alexander was one of five U.S. scholars to be awarded an Association of Theological Schools Lilly Faculty Fellowship in support of his research and writing. Beyond his extensive work with the Muslim community in Chicago and the U.S., Alexander also has first-hand experience with Muslim communities in the traditional Muslim world and is currently working to expand the outreach of CTU’s Catholic-Muslim Studies Program to similar programs in Nigeria, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

The Signum Fidei Lecture is presented by Lewis University’s Center for Ministry and Spirituality to celebrate the University’s Catholic and Lasallian heritage, bringing to campus men and women of vision and faith to illuminate issues affecting the Church and its people, to reflect on spirituality in the Catholic tradition, and to provide a forum for topics based on Church teaching.

This lecture is being presented as a part of Lewis University’s Arts & Ideas Program, providing cultural and educational programming for students and the community. For additional information, please contact Dr. James Burke, assistant professor of theology at Lewis University, at (815) 836-5786.

Lewis University is a Catholic university offering distinctive undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 6,000 traditional and adult students. Lewis offers multiple campus locations, online degree programs, and a variety of formats that provide accessibility and convenience to a growing student population. Sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Lewis prepares ethically grounded, globally aware, and socially responsible graduates. The ninth largest private not-for-profit university in Illinois, Lewis has been nationally recognized by The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report.  Visit www.lewisu.edu. for more information.