Ambassador Akbar Ahmed will discuss the decade since 9/11 and moving forward as a nation
KANSAS CITY, MO. – The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) Division of Diversity, Access and Equity (DDAE) will sponsor Ambassador Akbar Ahmed – an international expert on contemporary Islam – at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 27 at the University Center, Pierson Auditorium, 5000 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, Mo. His topic will be “Reflections on a Decade Since 9/11: Where Do We Go From Here?” The event is free and open to the public. Registration is requested.
Ahmed is the current Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at the American University in Washington, D.C. and “… the world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam” according to the BBC.
“The Division of Diversity, Access and Equity is committed to bringing speakers to campus who inspire discussion and contemplation,” said Karen Dace, Ph.D., deputy chancellor, Division of Diversity, Access and Equity. “Ambassador Ahmed’s work addresses American Society through the experiences of the Muslim Community post 9/11.”
Ahmed is an author, creator of films and documentaries and a past visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. He has taught at Princeton, Harvard and Cambridge Universities. Ahmed has served as the High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain, advisor to Prince Charles. He also has discussed Islam with former President George W. Bush, General David Petraeus and Secretary Michael Chertoff.
Ahmed is regularly interviewed on CNN, CBC, the BBC and ARY TV, and has appeared several times on the Oprah Winfrey Show and Nightline. He appeared on the Sir David Frost Show, along with Lord Owen, on Al Jazeera and also on Newsnight for the Annual Review 2007. Ahmed presented and narrated “Living Islam”, the six-part BBC television series, in 1993 and “The Glories of Islamic Art”, the three-part television series for Channel 5, UK, broadcast in 2006.
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