Renowned Middle East journalist and author Milton Viorst will deliver a speech called “The Dilemma of Modern Islam” at 7:30 tonight in Gerlinger Alumni Lounge.
Drawing from three decades of experience as a Middle East correspondent for The New Yorker magazine, Viorst has written 13 books on various political, cultural and religious issues of the region. His work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, among others.
The Humanities Center, which is co-sponsoring the lecture with the School of Journalism and Communications, invited Viorst to the University to enlighten the community on Islamic issues.
The center hopes “to shed light upon and bring more understanding to the Islamic religious traditions and their place in modern society,” Julia Heydon, associate director of the center, explained.
The son of conservative American Jews, Viorst’s latest book, “What Shall I Do With This People?: Jews and the Fractious Politics of Judaism,” explores how differences in beliefs between various sects of Judaism have divided the religion as a whole. The author plans to sign copies of his book after the lecture.
Much of Viorst’s latest work has involved the problems caused by differences in theology between fundamental and modern sects of different religions, which he will cover in this evening’s address.
“Islam’s failure to embrace the values of modern society has created deep-seated frustrations,” Viorst said. “And this has led to the kind of outbursts such as what we saw on 9/11, which I regard as an expression of both anger and despair.”
Interested parties are advised to arrive early, as a large crowd is expected. For more information, contact Heydon through the Humanities Center at 346-1001.
— Ben Fuchs
