Education Under Siege: Attacks on Scholars and Scholarship in Turbulent Times

We are witnessing today what many scholars characterize as the collapse of the post-Cold War liberal order—with serious consequences for Muslims in predominantly Muslim countries as well as for those living in minority communities around the world. The collapse is marked by intensifying violence between state and non-state actors, by deepening social, economic, and environmental crisis, and by the reemergence of autocratic and despotic rule as viable and desirable forms of governance. Political, ethnic, and religious minorities are suspect, and political and economic refugees are viewed as clear and present dangers. In this new world (dis)order, academia is but one of the casualties. This is witnessed by the attack and scapegoating of scholars and their scholarship as threats to national solidarity, economic prosperity, and/or state security.

Such attacks take on different modes of repression and violence depending on the nature of the conflict and the strategies available to those state and non-state actors who see themselves as arbiters of national or communal order. In this context, scholars have suffered intimidation, firings, arrest, exile, and assassination. Schools and institutions of higher education have been defunded, besieged, closed, and violently attacked. Scholarly research and curriculums deemed contrary to the moral fabric of society or to the larger national interest have been denounced, censored, and/or outlawed.

Cosponsors: MSU's James Madison College, College of Arts and Letters, Asian Studies Center, Department of Sociology, College of Education, African Studies Center, Center for Gender in Global Context, and the University of Michigan's Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies

 

Please join us for an informal conversation with two distinguished colleagues from Indonesia about the changing landscape of Indonesian education from primary to higher education.

Prof. Suyanto, Ph.D, faculty member of Yogyakarta State University (YSU), Indonesia, born in 1953, got his Master's degree from School of Education, Boston University, in 1981, sponsored by Fulbright, majoring in Social Studies Education, and his Ph.D from Michigan State University majoring in Social Studies Curriculum and Instruction, sponsored by the Ford Foundation. From 1999 to 2005, he was Rector of YSU. In 2005-2013 he was appointed Director General for Management of Primary and Secondary Education in the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Indonesia, responsible for managing 150,000 primary and secondary schools with 50 million students. He is the Chairperson of Professorial Board, Senate of Economics Faculty, and YSU Alumni Association, and actively publishes articles on Social and Educational issues. Currently he is national consultant of character education, and most importantly, engages in many seminars and workshops on teacher and principal capacity building throughout the country. He is the 2019 recipient of the Michigan State University June S. Moon Distinguished International Alumni Award.

Dr. Popy Rufaidah, B.Ec, MBA, Ph.D, is the current Educational and Cultural Attaché at the Indonesian Embassy in Washington, D.C. From 2013 to 2018, Dr. Rufaidah served as Director, MBA program, at the University of Padjadjaran, ranked fourth in Indonesia. In 2018, she was AGBA Distinguished Scholar, Academy for Global Business for Advancement, which is based in Texas. Dr. Rufaidah has served since 2013 as Secretary General, Association of Faculties of Economics and Business in Indonesia. She obtained a Bachelor of Economics in Management from the University of Padjadjaran in Indonesia, an MBA from Murray State University in Kentucky, and a Ph.D frm University of South Wales in Sydney, Australia.

This event is sponsored by the Office of International Studies in Education and Asian Studies Center

Conference Title: Global Islamophobia and the News Media, Entertainment Media, and Social Media

Michigan State University is hosting an international conference on Global Islamophobia and the News Media, Entertainment Media, and Social Media. This conference will present work related to Muslim portrayals in the media (e.g., news, entertainment, social media) and evaluate how Islamophobia manifests on these platforms.

Significance of theme: The media is an important conduit for conveying messages to the public, shaping public attitudes, influencing the national discourse, and generating stereotypes. Past research suggests the ways in which outgroups are represented in the media impacts the public's perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors toward them, as well as shaping support for policies that harm members of these outgroups. Scholarship is only now beginning to extend this line of research to Muslims, and to specifically explore how the media is shaping discrimination against Muslims globally. . For instance, Muslims are increasingly occupying a more prominent role in the American cable news media. For instance, they were mentioned in 28.46% of all CNN broadcasts, 31.53% of FOX broadcasts, and 41.65% of MSNBC broadcasts in 2016. This conference will invite panelists to present work related to Muslim portrayals in the media (e.g., news, entertainment, social media) and evaluate its effects either on publics or on Muslims themselves.

Panelists from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds—including, among other possibilities, computer science, sociology, anthropology, religious studies, political science, communication, media studies, and psychology—will be invited to apply to attend and present their research on Islamophobia in the news media, entertainment media, and on social media. By bringing together leading scholars who study how Islamophobia manifests on each of these platforms, we will develop a more comprehensive understanding of the pervasiveness of anti-Muslim sentiment, measure its effects, and develop recommendations to address it. The conference will build a mentoring network of scholars interested in Muslims, leading to stronger future data collection and research efforts, and will help underrepresented members of the profession (including women and people of color) to succeed in their scholarship.

Conference format: The two-day conference will take place on April 8-9 and will include a networking dinner, panels, posters, and a keynote. The precise format will be announced at a later date.

Basilius Bawardi (Bar IIIan University) will be talking about Cultural & Linguistic Diversity in the Middle East.

 

Sponsored by the Department of Linguistics & Languages, Arabic Program, Hebrew Program, College of Arts & Letters, Global Studies in the Arts & Humanities, Asian Studies Center, and Muslim Studies Program. 

Speaker: Dr. Xiansheng Tian, Ph.D., Professor of History, jointed the Metro State University of Denver in 1996. His book, Patrick J. Hurley and American Policy in China, 1944- 1945, which details one of the pivotal diplomatic missions of the twentieth century. He also co-edited three other books, Evolution of Power: China's Struggle, Survival, and Success, New Historiography in the Contemporary West on Chinese History: 1987-2007, and Taiwan in the Eyes of Chinese-American Scholars: Critical Analysis of
Taiwanese Society in the 21st Century. He has served on the Boards of Directors of the Chinese Historians in the United States and the Association of Chinese Professors in Social Sciences. Tian is also on the Editorial Board of American Review of China Studies.
 
The 1880 anti-Chinese riot in Denver, Colorado is the darkest page of American history -- the Chinese immigrants were singled out as the hate targets. As the result, once booming Denver Chinatown disappeared, followed soon by the Chinese Exclusion Act passed by the U. S. Congress in 1882. Chinese-Americans, however, did not give up. They made great contributions to the state of Colorado despite of discrimination. The presentation will introduce a few examples. This event is organized by Dr. Wenying Zhou, Assistant Professor of Chinese and Dr. Tze-lan Sang, Professor of Chinese. This talk is
sponsored by the MSU Asian Studies Center and is a part of the Center's Global Virtual Speakers Program (GVSP)

Conference Title: Global Islamophobia and the News Media, Entertainment Media, and Social Media

Michigan State University is hosting an international conference on Global Islamophobia and the News Media, Entertainment Media, and Social Media. This conference will present work related to Muslim portrayals in the media (e.g., news, entertainment, social media) and evaluate how Islamophobia manifests on these platforms.
Significance of theme: The media is an important conduit for conveying messages to the public, shaping public attitudes, influencing the national discourse, and generating stereotypes. Past research suggests the ways in which outgroups are represented in the media impacts the public's perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors toward them, as well as shaping support for policies that harm members of these outgroups. Scholarship is only now beginning to extend this line of research to Muslims, and to specifically explore how the media is shaping discrimination against Muslims globally. . For instance, Muslims are increasingly occupying a more prominent role in the American cable news media. For instance, they were mentioned in 28.46% of all CNN broadcasts, 31.53% of FOX broadcasts, and 41.65% of MSNBC broadcasts in 2016. This conference will invite panelists to present work related to Muslim portrayals in the media (e.g., news, entertainment, social media) and evaluate its effects either on publics or on Muslims themselves.

Panelists from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds—including, among other possibilities, computer science, sociology, anthropology, religious studies, political science, communication, media studies, and psychology—will be invited to apply to attend and present their research on Islamophobia in the news media, entertainment media, and on social media. By bringing together leading scholars who study how Islamophobia manifests on each of these platforms, we will develop a more comprehensive understanding of the pervasiveness of anti-Muslim sentiment, measure its effects, and develop recommendations to address it. The conference will build a mentoring network of scholars interested in Muslims, leading to stronger future data collection and research efforts, and will help underrepresented members of the profession (including women and people of color) to succeed in their scholarship.
Conference format: The two-day conference will take place on April 8-9 and will include a networking dinner, panels, posters, and a keynote. The precise format will be announced at a later date.

 

Arabic Diwan is a gathering of Arabic students who are in the Arabic program, where they speak the language and learn about the culture in a relaxed environment with our Fulbright teaching assistant. Students from all Arabic language levels are encourages to attend. Also, we extend the invitation to the Arabic speaking students at the English Center. 

Contact Sara Kasem for link: sarah_kasem(at)yahoo.com