Conference on Islam in Latin America at FIU

WHAT:  The Middle East Studies Center (MESC) of the School of International and Public Affairs at FIU is organizing a one day conference on Islam in Latin America on March 26th. A group of leading scholars from Latin America will join FIU scholars to discuss the presence of Islam and Muslims in Latin America, their impact on integration into Latin American society, and their historical and contemporary ties to the Middle East and the larger Muslim world.  This event is co-sponsored by the Latin American and Caribbean Center at FIU.

WHO:  MESC has invited distinguished and leading scholars from Latin America and the U.S. whose research centers on Islam and Muslim communities in Latin America.  This group includes Camila Pastor from the Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas (CIDE) in Mexico; Paulo Hilu Pinto from Universidade Federal Fluminese in Brazil; Luis Mesa del Monte from El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City; and Jonathan Friedlander from University of California in Los Angeles. In addition, this group will be joined by FIU scholars whose research focuses on Islam and its historical and contemporary impact on global society. This group will include Mohiaddin Mesbahi, director of MESC and associate professor in FIU’s Department of Politics and International Relations; Maria Mar Logrono, assistant professor in FIU’s Department of History; and others from the Departments of Religious Studies and Politics and International Relations.

WHEN: Friday, March 26, 2010 at 10:30 a.m.  This event is free and open to the public.

WHERE: The MARC Pavilion in the MARC Building at Florida International University’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus, 11200 SW 8^th St., Miami.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Francesco Ortoleva, Program Coordinator at MESC, 305-348-1792.

Media Contact:  Lissette Lanza  at 305-348-2232.

-FIU- 

About FIU:
Florida International University was founded in 1965 and is Miami’s only public research university. With a student body of more than 38,000, its 12 colleges and schools offer more than 200 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations and law. More than 100,000 FIU alumni live and work in South Florida. FIU has been classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a “High Research Activity University”. In August 2009, FIU welcomed the inaugural class of the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu.