CURRENT DISC INITIATIVES:
DISC is home to a number of initiatives that reflect and support the interests and research of our faculty and students. You will find highlights of some of our current initiatives below.
Religion Newswriters Conference
DISC-OCIS Partnership (Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies)
TRANSCULTURAL ISLAM PROJECT
DISC has received a grant from the Carnegie Corporation for a three-year project to establish an international scholars network in Islamic Studies with a U.S. outreach component.
The Transcultural Islam project is a new initiative that will run through 2014. It is designed to further Islamic Studies scholarship and research though individual and institutional partnerships between DISC and its faculty and our research partners across the globe. The other component of this initiative is the development of a US network of organizations and individuals that shape US public discourse and policy about Islam and Muslims. We will develop web resources that will provide the US network with access to the research findings and projects of our international network of Islamic Studies scholars.
RELIGION NEWSWRITERS ASSOCIATION: Preconference Program
"Muslims in America: The Next Ten Years"
September 15, 2011, 9:00 - 5:00
Von Canon Rooms, Bryan Center
DISC has received a grant from the Social Science Research Council to support this program, which will bring over 60 religion journalists to the Duke campus for a program on the future of Muslims in America. Following the Duke program, the journalists will attend the annual RNA conference, which is being held at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Durham. This initiative is led by Professor Jen'nan Read.
DISC-OCIS PARTNERSHIP:
In March 2010 Duke's Trinity College of Arts & Sciences signed an MOU (memo of understanding) with the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies that formalizes the commitments to scholarship and teaching shared by Islamic Studies scholars at Oxford and Duke universities.
In June 2010, DISC Director Gil Merkx and DISC-affiliated faculty miriam cooke, Bruce Lawrence, and Jen'nan Read traveled to Oxford, where they met with OCIS Director Farhan Nizami and other Oxford Islamic Studies fellows to identify topics of mutual interest and areas of potential collaboration between our two centers and faculties. The highlight of the visit was a speech by HRH The Prince of Wales, Islam and the Environment (click here for speech text), at the Sheldonian Theatre. The speech was followed by a royal reception, which the DISC delegation attended.
