Dr. Abdulkarim Soroush, one of the world\u2019s most prominent Islamic scholars, will give a presentation entitled \u201cReforming Islamic Societies: Prospects and Pitfalls\u201d at the College of Arts and Sciences Public Affairs Forum, also sponsored by TWU\u2019s Global Connections Initiative.<\/p>\n
Named by Time magazine as one of the world\u2019s 100 most influential people in 2005, Dr. Soroush is the director of the Institute for Epistemological Research in Tehran and a former senior fellow of Iran\u2019s Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n
In 2008, he was a visiting scholar at Georgetown University\u2019s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.\u00a0 He also has held regular visiting professorships at Princeton, Yale and Harvard universities and at the University of Amsterdam.<\/p>\n
Dr. Soroush pursued his graduate studies in England before returning to his native Iran in 1979 at the onset of the Islamic revolution.\u00a0 He became an advocate of Islamic ideology and was part of Iran\u2019s cultural revolution of the 1980s, a project that imposed Islamic curricula on Iranian universities.<\/p>\n
Eventually Dr. Soroush became highly critical of the political role played by the Iranian clergy, which led to his exile to Europe and the U.S., where he is a frequent national speaker on Islamic reform.\u00a0 He also has published more than a dozen books on his views of Islamic society, religion and politics.<\/p>\n
For a map of the Denton campus, visit www.twu.edu\/maps.asp<\/a>.\u00a0 The event is free and open to the public.\u00a0 For more information, email JWilliams2@twu.edu<\/a> or call 940-898-2052<\/p>\n Source:<\/p>\n