Taking on Hate at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan “From America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far” Huma Mohibullah | December 14, 2017 Libraries & Collections Sixteen years after the 9/11 attacks, anti-Muslim sentiment in the United States shows no signs of waning. While the Trump administration maintains hardline approaches in dealing with national security issues, Muslims continue to be imagined as a group of medieval fanatics and high-risk individuals. Children, too, are affected by such political discourse; as a 2017 study showed, 42% of American Muslim school children reported being subjected to bullying by their peers, and even by their teachers. It is in this context of insecurity and xenophobia that the Children’s Museum of Manhattan designed its exhibition, “From America to Zanzibar: Muslim Cultures Near and Far”... Read the rest of this entry
Mapping Malcolm’s Boston Exploring the City that Made Malcolm X Kayla Wheeler | November 30, 2017 In his autobiography, Malcolm X writes of his move to Boston, “No physical move in my life has been more pivotal or profound in its repercussions.” He lived on and off in Boston from 1941 to 1953 and frequently visited the city after taking up permanent residence in Harlem. His time in Boston was essential to his religious and political development... Read the rest of this entry
Defining the Persianate The Comparative Persianate Aesthetics Symposium (Boston University, September 28-29, 2017) Alison Terndrup and Hyunjin Cho | November 15, 2017 Muslim Literatures Visual Culture AboutMuslim Literatures How do we characterize the “fuzzy, but generally definable” cultural realm of the “Persianate”? Over the course of two days, scholars gathered together for the symposium to think about how current scholarship uses the “fuzzy, but generally definable” term “Persianate.” The discussions centered on the language and aesthetics of poetry and visual works. Speakers treated topics that allowed for detailed examination of modes of cultural exchange, movement of objects, and early modern itineraries within the conceptual frameworks of translation, imitation, hybridity, and innovation... Read the rest of this entry