The Third Penang in Asia Lecture by Professor Tariq Ramadan

July 5, 2012

Public Service Announcement

The Third Penang in Asia Lecture by Professor Tariq Ramadan

Islam, Democracy, and Human Rights: The Awakening of the Muslim World

Date: July 17, 2012 (Tuesday)

Time: 11:30am – 3:30pm

Venue: Pinang Ballroom, Traders Hotel, Penang, Malaysia

The Penang Institute, the public policy think tank of the state government of Penang, will be holding the third Penang in Asia lecture at Traders Hotel in Penang, Malaysia on  July 17, 2012 (Tuesday).

This year’s edition will be delivered by the world’s leading contemporary Islamic philosopher and thinker, Professor Tariq Ramadan. The topic of the lecture will be, “Islam, Democracy and Human Rights: The Awakening of the Muslim World”.

Professor Tariq Ramadan is the son of Said Ramadan and Wafa Al-Bana, who was the eldest daughter of Hassan al Banna who in 1928 founded the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Gamal al-Banna, the liberal Muslim reformer is his great-uncle. His father was a prominent figure in the Muslim Brotherhood and was exiled by Gamal Abdul Nasser from Egypt to Switzerland, where Tariq was born.

Professor Ramadan studied Philosophy and French literature at the Masters level and holds a PhD in Arabic and Islamic studies from the University of Geneva. He also wrote a PhD dissertation on Friedrich Nietzsche, entitled Nietzsche as a Historian of Philosophy.

He taught at the College de Saussure, a high school in Geneva, Switzerland, and held a lectureship in Religion and Philosophy at the University of Fribourg from 1996 to 2003. In October 2005 he began teaching at St Antony’s College at the University of Oxford on a Visiting Fellowship. In 2005 he was a senior research fellow at the Lokahi Foundation.In 2007 he successfully applied for the professorship in Islamic studies at the University of Leiden, but then declined to take up the position, citing professional reasons. He was also a guest professor of Identity and Citizenship at Erasmus University Rotterdam till August 2009 when the City of Rotterdam and Erasmus University dismissed him from his positions as “integration adviser” and professor, stating that the program he chairs on Iran’s Press TV, Islam & Life, was “irreconcilable” with his duties in Rotterdam. Ramadan described this move as Islamophobic and politically charged.Beginning September 2009, Ramadan, was appointed to the His Highness Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Chair in Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University.

Professor Ramadan established the Mouvement des Musulmans Suisses (Movement of Swiss Muslims), which engages in various interfaith seminars. He is an advisor to the EU on religious issues and was sought for advice by the EU on a commission on “Islam and Secularism”.In September 2005 he was invited to join a task force by the government of the United Kingdom. He is also the President of the Euro-Muslim Network, a Brussels-based think-tank.–wikipedia

He is widely interviewed and has produced about 100 tapes which sell tens of thousands of copies each year. In recent years, he has come to Malaysia several times on speaking engagements and has a lot of friends who share his views on Islam and the Modern World.

The “Penang in Asia” lecture series is an annual lectureship awarded under the patronage of His Excellency the Governor of Penang. It is organised by the Penang Institute to bring together renowned scholars, public intellectuals and thinkers from diverse fields to Penang to speak about issues relevant to the cultural, intellectual and economic development of Penang as an historical and future growth centre in Asia. The previous “Penang in Asia” lecture was delivered by Nobel Laureate Professor Sir James Alexander Mirrlees.

Those interested are welcome to register. Please fill in all relevant details in our online registration form by clicking here. Alternatively, you may fax or email the attached registration form to Mr. Desmond Wee or Ms. Wendy Yeong (Email: secretariat@penanginstitute.org; Phone: +604 228 3306; Fax +604 226 7042). Please note that due to the limited seating available, participation is strictly for those who have registered before the deadline.