The University of Colorado at Boulder's Center for Media, Religion and Culture will host an international conference Jan. 7-10 on "Islam and the Media: Who Speaks for Islam?"
The four-day event will bring together more than 100 scholars, media professionals, activists, community members and people connected with nongovernmental organizations to explore the interaction between Islam and global, regional, national and local media.
"Muslims both in the Muslim world and in the diaspora are taking advantage of new media platforms like the Internet and conventional media like satellite television, music and film," said Assistant Professor Nabil Echchaibi, associate director of the Center for Media, Religion and Culture in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. "But their voices have been drowned by extremists."
Conference organizers say the series of keynote addresses, plenaries and panel discussions will explore whether the pluralization of Muslim voices denotes innovations in the core of Islamic teachings or merely a shift in method to reaffirm a message of orthodoxy.
All keynote speakers are free and open to the public. They are:
Thursday, Jan. 7
-- Mona Eltahawy, Egyptian-born columnist and public speaker, 2 to 3:30 p.m., Old Main Chapel
-- Charles Hirschkind, anthropologist at the University of California, Berkeley and author of a book on the use of religious audiotapes in Egypt, 5:30 to 7 p.m., Old Main Chapel
Saturday, Jan. 9
-- Gary Bunt, author and senior lecturer at the University of Wales, 9 to 10:30 a.m., Eaton Humanities Building room 150
-- Zarqa Nawaz, a British-Canadian journalist, filmmaker and author of "Little Mosque on the Prairie," 6:30 to 8 p.m., Eaton Humanities Building room 150
All other conference sessions are limited to those who have paid registration fees. Registration will be offered on site.
The conference is co-sponsored by CU-Boulder, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Center for Asian Studies, Intersections, the Estlow Center for Journalism and New Media at the University of Denver and the Multicultural Mosaic Foundation.
For more information or a complete schedule of conference events visit / or call the Center for Media, Religion and Culture at 303-492-1357.