The Divan – the Arab House of Culture in cooperation with the American Academy Berlin invites you to a

Lecture by Mark Fathi Massoud

“Islam and Politics in America Today”

In this talk, Mark Fathi Massoud discusses the historical exclusion of religious minorities in American law and society. He also looks at contemporary responses to anti-Muslim hate and the ways that Americans of all stripes have come to view religion as an alternate legal order that either competes or complies with the US Constitution. There will be time for questions and discussion afterwards.

Mark Fathi Massoud is Professor of Politics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he directs the Legal Studies Program. He also holds an appointment as Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford Faculty of Law. He received his BA and MA from the University of Notre Dame, and JD and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. Massoud’s book Shari‘a, Inshallah: Finding God in Somali Legal Politics (Cambridge, 2021) received the Ralph J. Bunche Award for best book in ethnic and cultural pluralism from the American Political Science Association, among other honors; he is also the author of Law’s Fragile State: Colonial, Authoritarian, and Humanitarian Legacies in Sudan (Cambridge, 2013), winner of the Herbert Jacob Book Prize from the Law and Society Association, and co-editor (with L. J. Chua) of Out of Place: Fieldwork and Positionality in Law and Society (Cambridge, 2024). Massoud’s scholarly articles have appeared in Law & Society Review, Law & Social Inquiry, American Journal of Comparative Law, and the Journal of Law and Society. His work has been supported by fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, Carnegie Corporation, Mellon Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies

When:           Thursday, May 16, 2024 – 6:30 p.m

Where:         Der Divan – das Arabische Kulturhaus,Schützallee 27-29, 14169 Berlin

Moderation: Dr. Sonja Hegasy, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO), Berlin

Language:     Englisch

Registration* via Eventsbrite or by E-Mail: events@derdivan.org   

* By registering, you agree to image and video recordings during the event and consent to their publication for public relations purposes of the Divan – Das Arabische Kulturhaus.