College Chapel
Defining Moments: Reza Aslan, bestselling author of “No god but God”
Thursday, Nov. 11, 9:50 a.m. – 10:20 a.m.
Whitley Auditorium
Music: Professor Whittaker’s Saxophone Quartet
Join us this Thursday in Whitley Auditorium for College Chapel. We will continue to hear from speakers about how events in their lives have helped to define who they now are. We will be challenged to consider how past events – personal and public, positive and negative – have shaped and molded our present realities.
About College Chapel
Thursday Chapel is a time and space to take a break from the busyness of the week and refresh the spirit. It is not a “worship service,” rather a time of reflection offered by a member of the Elon community or guest speaker. Music is provided each week by students and faculty from the Music department. Refreshments will be served following Chapel. All are welcome!
About the Speaker
Dr. Reza Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions, is a contributing editor at the Daily Beast (thedailybeast.com) as well as a frequent and recognizable guest on television news and commentary shows. He offers concise analysis on the future of Islam, the ongoing reform of Islamic republics, and the struggle of followers who must reconcile faith with contemporary attitudes as well as persistent anti-Islamic fears.
Aslan’s first book, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, has been translated into thirteen languages, and named one of the 100 most important books of the last decade. He is also the author of How to Win a Cosmic War, and editor of an upcoming anthology from Norton titled Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East.
Born in Iran, he lives in Los Angeles and is associate professor of creative writing at the University of California, Riverside. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. He earned degrees in religions from Santa Clara University, Harvard University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa, where he was named the Truman Capote Fellow in Fiction.
Aslan also is president and CEO of Aslan Media Inc., whose holdings include BoomGen Studios, a mini-motion picture and media company focused entirely on entertainment about the Greater Middle East and its Diaspora communities. He serves on the board of directors of the Ploughshares Fund, which gives grants for peace and security issues, Abraham’s Vision, an interfaith peace organization, and PEN USA, which champions the rights of writers under siege around the world.