Award-winning historian and former Swarthmore College president Theodore “Dorie” Friend will discuss his recently published book Woman, Man, and God in Modern Islam on Tues., Mar. 13, 2012, at 4:30 p.m. in the Scheuer Room of Kohlberg Hall on the Swarthmore College campus. The event is free and open to the public.
In Woman, Man, and God in Modern Islam, Friend recounts his journeys across Asia and the Middle East on a quest to understand firsthand the life situations of women in Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Turkey. Commingling a deep respect for Islam and his own faith in the potential of women to change their worlds, Friend presents a revealing outsider’s perspective on women in five very different Islamic cultures.
Friend, a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, served as Swarthmore’s 11th president, from 1973-1982. While at Swarthmore, Friend worked to increase minority enrollments, faculty involvement in setting policies, and student participation in standing College committees. During his tenure, he also established the Black Studies program, introduced Chinese language courses, and sought to address women’s concerns. Friend later served as president of Eisenhower Fellowships for 12 years.
Friend is also the author of Indonesian Destinies (2003) and Between Two Empires: The Ordeal of the Philippines, 1929-1946 (1965), which won the Bancroft Prize in American History, Foreign Policy, and Diplomacy.
A question-and-answer period and reception will follow. The lecture is sponsored by the Departments of History, Political Science, Religion, and Sociology and Anthropology; the Gender and Sexuality Studies, Islamic Studies, and Peace and Conflict Studies Programs; and the President’s Office.
For additional information, please contact Anna Everetts at (610) 328-7750.