East and West Coast academic centers devoted to “Islamophobia studies” joined forces in April for the University of California, Berkeley’s Seventh Annual International Islamophobia
Conference. While UC Berkeley Islamophobia Research & Documentation Project (
IRDP) director and conference convener
Hatem Bazian gave the opening remarks, John Esposito, founding director of Georgetown University’s Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU) and project director of ACMCU’s
Bridge Initiative, “a multi-year research project that connects the academic study of Islamophobia with the public square,” was the undisputed star. Campus Watch West Coast representative Cinnamon Stillwell’s
report appears today at the
Independent Journal Review: Esposito was introduced by Munir Jiwa, director of the Center for Islamic Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, who, after noting that one of the scheduled speakers on the same panel was unable to attend, added with a smile, “I’m sure Dr. Esposito will be happy to take up the time.” Esposito did not disappoint, delivering a long, rambling talk filled with humorous asides and one-liners to which the audience responded with hearty laughter. He clearly reveled in being the center of attention and joked at the outset about his family, “They think I’m a humble person; my wife will tell you that I’m faking it.”
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