Straight to your inbox
Re-Imagining Self and Other: Knowledge, Power and the Clash of Ignorance
This free, public presentation is part of the CCSMSC Annual Lecture Series (2015-16) and the International Summer Program on Muslim Diversity (2016). Karim H. Karim, Director of the Carleton Centre for the Study of Islam and Professor of Communication at Carleton University’s School of Journalism and Communication, will be speaking.
Abstract: The twenty-first century exploded into the global imagination with unforgettable scenes of death and destruction. An apocalyptic “clash of civilizations” seemed to be waged between two old foes – “the West” and “Islam.” Much of the interaction between them is characterized by a mutual lack of awareness of the vital role that each has played historically in shaping the other. Western and Muslim civilizations have demonstrated a vast capacity for productive engagement. But this long record of collaborative exchange has not prevented a contemporary escalation of the “clash of ignorance” on both sides. The complexities and subtleties of their mutually beneficial relationship are overshadowed by portrayals of unremitting conflict that promote a continuing cycle of terrorism and war. Canada and other countries have paid dearly in blood and treasure in the last one and half decades of strife, which seems fated to continue for many more years. It is time to re-imagine Western-Muslim intersections.