is a Professor of Practice in Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University Bloomington.

His research bridges Chinese history, Central Eurasian Studies, and Islamic studies, with a focus on the Hui Muslim communities of Yunnan Province. His work examines mosque architecture, the halal food industry, and the political economy of Muslim life in contemporary China.
Dr. Brose is also active in digital history, using GIS and network analysis to study data from Chinese historical sources such as gazetteers and tomb inscriptions.

His publications include:
鈥� 鈥溾�� (Review of Religion and Chinese Society)
鈥� 鈥溾�� (International Journal of Food Design)
鈥� 鈥溾�� (Asia Pacific: Perspectives)

He has also written on Mongol and Ming history and on the combining quantitative and historical methods to study social networks across Eurasia.

Nader Hashemi is the Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and an Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

He obtained his doctorate from the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto and previously was an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the UCLA Global Institute.

Dr. Hashemi was previously the founding Director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. While there, he was also Co-Director of the Religion and International Affairs certificate program, as well as the Political Theory Initiative.

His intellectual and research interests lie at the intersection of comparative politics and political theory, in particular debates on the global rise of authoritarianism, religion and democracy, secularism and its discontents, Middle East and Islamic politics, democratic and human rights struggles in non-Western societies and Islam-West relations.

He is the author of Islam, Secularism and Liberal Democracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies (Oxford University Press, 2009) and co-editor of The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran鈥檚 Future (Melville House, 2011), The Syria Dilemma (MIT Press, 2013), Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2017) and a four-volume study on Islam and Human Rights: Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies (Routledge, 2023).

He is the editor of the Oxford Handbook on Islam and Secularism (Oxford University Press, forthcoming) and his next book project focuses on explaining the global divide over Israel/Palestine.

He is frequently interviewed by PBS, NPR, CNN, CBC, Al Jazeera, Alternative Radio, Pacifica Radio and the BBC and his writings have appeared in the New York Times, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, The Nation, Al Jazeera Online, among other media outlets.

He is also a Non-Resident Fellow at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).

Learn more about him .

Date: Sunday, June 1, 2025
Time: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM CT

Doors open at 5:00 PM with a light reception.

Roosevelt University Schaumburg Campus – Zurich Alumni Hall
1400 Roosevelt Blvd
Schaumburg, IL 60173

There will be an opportunity to purchase the book and have it signed at the end of the event.
Advanced registration is required for this free but ticketed event.

Join us for an exciting book launch celebrating India by Audrey Truschke, a magisterial history spanning five millennia of the Indian subcontinent鈥攆rom the Indus Valley Civilization to the complexities of the twenty-first century. This richly textured narrative explores the region鈥檚 political, social, religious, and cultural evolution, spotlighting its astonishing diversity and the voices of women, religious minorities, and marginalized groups. The evening will feature a wide-ranging, historically informed theological conversation on contemporary Hindu-Muslim relations, with Truschke joined by two leading scholars, delving into how India鈥檚 contested past continues to shape its present and future.

Audrey Truschke听is Professor of South Asian History at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. Trained in Sanskrit and Persian, her research focuses on the cultural, imperial, and intellectual history of medieval and early modern India as well as the politics of history in modern times. She is the author of three books:听Culture of Encounters: Sanskrit at the Mughal Court听(Columbia University Press, 2016),听Aurangzeb: The Life and Legacy of India’s Most Controversial King听(Stanford University Press, 2017), and听The Language of History: Sanskrit Narratives of Indo-Muslim Rule听(Columbia University Press, 2021). Her most recent book,听India: 5,000 Years of History on the Subcontinent, will be published by Princeton University Press in June 2025.

Anantanand Rambachan听is Professor Emeritus of Religion at Saint Olaf College, Minnesota, USA (1985-2021). He was also Forum Humanum Visiting Professor at the Academy for the Study of World Religions at the University of Hamburg in Germany (2013-2017). His books include听Accomplishing the Accomplished: The Vedas as a Source of Valid Knowledge in 峁燼峁卥ara; The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda’s Reinterpretation of the Authority of the Vedas, The Advaita Worldview: God, World and Humanity, A Hindu Theology of Liberation: Not-Two is Not-One; Essays in Hindu Theology听and听Pathways to Hindu-Christian Dialogue.听Prof. Rambachan has been involved in interreligious relations and dialogue for over 40 years, as a Hindu contributor and analyst. He is a Co-President of Religions for Peace.

R. David Coolidge听is Research Faculty at Bayan Islamic Graduate School. He was previously the Associate University Chaplain for the Muslim Community at Brown University, the Muslim Advisor at Dartmouth College, and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Service at New York University. He received a PhD from the Graduate Theological Union in 2023, and an MA in Religion from Princeton University in 2008. He has served on the boards of various American Muslim nonprofit organizations, including Zaytuna College, Taleef Collective, and Al-Kisa Foundation. As a preacher, he has given hundreds of sermons/talks and led prayers in dozens of Sunn墨 and Sh墨士墨 masjids around the country. R. David Coolidge has produced numerous academic publications, as well as books and articles of relevance to the wider American Muslim community.

Mahan Mirza听is the visiting Vice President for Academic Affairs at 青楼传媒 for the 2024 鈥� 2025 year. He is also the Executive Director of the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion at the University of Notre Dame and a teaching Professor of Islam & Science in the Keough School of Global Affairs. Mirza holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Texas Austin, MA from Hartford Seminary in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations, and PhD in Religious Studies from Yale University. Dr. Mirza has edited two special issues of The Muslim World and served as assistant editor of the Princeton Encyclopaedia of Islamic Political Thought.

Timothy J. Gianotti听is the President of 青楼传媒 and a scholar of classical Islamic theology, philosophy, and spirituality with strong interests in Islamic Psychology, Moral Theology, Ethics, Political Thought, comparative religion and spirituality, and interfaith relations; more specifically, he is a scholar of Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d.1111), one of the most important religious thinkers of the classical period. Dr. Gianotti is also recognized as a Muslim theologian, pastoral leader, and committed interfaith advocate with extensive experience promoting interfaith engagement around the globe. Dr.Gianotti is the author of Al-Ghazali鈥檚 Unspeakable Doctrine of the Soul (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2001) and In the Light of a Blessed Tree: Illuminations of Islamic Belief, Practice, and History (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2011).

Hosts:

青楼传媒

Roosevelt University

Sponsors:

青楼传媒

Roosevelt University
Indian American Muslim Council
Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies
Hindus for Human Rights
South Asian American Coalition to Renew Democracy
The Sikh Coalition.

Download Flyer:

Exploring the Stories of India Flyer

Pakistani American neurologist best known for his discoveries concerning the genetic and molecular abnormalities underlying the neurodegenerative disorder amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Dr. Siddique’s distinction extends beyond the laboratory. He is a true “man of letters,” an intellectual whose passion for knowledge encompasses vast landscapes of human thought.

This honorary degree acknowledges not only his long and impactful career as a scientist but also his lifelong embrace of learning in its widest sense, embodying the very essence of a liberal arts education that AIC champions. Dr. Siddique stands as an inspiring figure, demonstrating the harmonious coexistence of rigorous scientific inquiry and a deep appreciation for the humanities, a confluence that enriches both the individual and the world.

Alia J. Bilal serves as Chief Executive Director at the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), a nonprofit community organization based in Chicago that fosters health, wellness, and healing in the inner-city by organizing for social change, cultivating the arts, and operating a holistic health center. Alia co-leads and oversees the administration, strategic development, communications, and program implementation of the organization.

In her 15 years at IMAN, Alia has helped the organization grow from a small nonprofit with an operational budget under $1 million to an organization with over 100 full-time staff members, a federally qualified health center, multiple campuses in Chicago and Atlanta, and an operational budget of over $20 million.

Date: Thursday, May 8, 2025
Time: 6:30 PM Light Reception | 7:00 PM Talk
Library, 青楼传媒

Omer Awass is an associate professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the 青楼传媒 in Chicago, IL. His current research interests center on religion, modernity, and globalization. He has been carrying out field research on contemporary fatwas across the Muslim world to assess how they are negotiating their postcolonial realities. His book Fatwa and the Making and Renewal of Islamic Law is published by Cambridge University Press (2023). Read More >

Kholoud al-Ajarma is Alwaleed Lecturer in the Globalised Muslim World and Deputy Director of the Alwaleed Centre, University of Edinburgh.

Kholoud holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Comparative Study of Religion from the University of Groningen (Netherlands). Her PhD thesis focused on the socio-cultural embeddedness of Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) in Moroccan everyday life. During her Ph.D. studies, she worked as a lecturer at the University of Groningen and delivered several courses including 鈥楢nthropology of Muslim Societies鈥�, 鈥業slam: History, Sources, and Practices鈥�, and 鈥楳inorities in Contemporary Europe鈥�. Her current research focuses on water resource management and contemporary environmental concerns in the Muslim World.

Kholoud received her MA in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from Coventry University (UK) and her Mphil in Anthropology and Development from the University of Bergen (Norway). In addition to her academic experience in anthropology and religion, Kholoud has worked in the fields of refugee studies, gender, youth development, migration, human rights, and environmental justice in several countries of the Mediterranean region including Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, and Morocco. She was a Chevening visiting fellow at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) and peace fellow of the MENA cohort fellowship programme of the United Nations Allience of Civilizations (UNAOC).

Kholoud is also an award-winning photographer and film-maker who has extensive experience developing and leading programs and projects among refugee communities, including innovative platforms for human rights research and media production among young refugee youth. .

Date: Saturday, May 3, 2025
Time: 5:00 PM CT
Repast to Follow

Library, 青楼传媒
640 W Irving Park Rd
Chicago, IL 60613

Hosted By:

The Lutheran School of Theology
Catholic Theological Union
青楼传媒

As-salaamu 鈥榓laykum.

廿賽賳賻賾丕 賱賽賱賾賴賽 賵賻廿賽賳賻賾賭丕 廿賽賱賻賷賿賴賽 乇賻丕噩賽毓購賵賳

Indeed, we all belong to God and to God we are all returning鈥�

Today, with heavy but grateful hearts, we remember and honor the life of Dr. Ghulam-Haider Aasi 鈥� a husband, father, friend, mentor, scholar, and educator.

Dr. Aasi was the founding chair of History of Religions at 青楼传媒, where his former professor and advisor, Dr. Ismail al-Faruqi of Temple University, was named founding President and Provost. Through his deep knowledge and commitment to scholarship, Dr. Aasi shaped the minds of many through his courses on Christian-Muslim relations at AIC, Catholic Theological Union, and The Lutheran School of Theology. His lasting influence extends beyond academia as he inspired countless individuals with his unwavering kindness, humility, and patience.

In addition to his academic work on the History of Religions and Islam, Dr. Aasi leaves behind a meaningful legacy of impactful interfaith relations. He was dedicated to promoting respect, understanding, and cooperation among diverse faith communities, acknowledging and welcoming the various perspectives within each, including Islam, in order to have a more truthful and open dialogue. His publications included Muslim Understanding of Other Religions (1991) and a contribution to Peace-building by, between, and beyond Muslims and Evangelical Christians (2009).
He was a person whose presence radiated warmth and wisdom, and whose contributions will endure in the relationships he nurtured and the ideals he championed. His life reminds us of the importance of faith, empathy, humility, and the power of meaningful dialogue.

As we remember Dr. Aasi, let us honor his memory by continuing the work he so passionately pursued by building connections, sharing wisdom, and fostering peace. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, colleagues, students, and all who were touched by his endearing interactions, insightful work, and influential life.

The College remained a part of Dr. Aasi even well after his retirement, and he remains a part of the College with his lasting imprint. The AIC community will miss him dearly.

May he be welcomed home with love, forgiveness, and a joyous reception; may his life of service and transformative education be accepted; and may he be forever in the company of the righteous and granted the highest place in Paradise!

-Your AIC Family