Author: Brynn Boyer

New book discusses “The Challenged world of Traditional Islam.”

The world’s fastest-growing religion is also the most misunderstood in the west. In Islam in the Modern World, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, one of the world’s leading experts on Islamic thought, explains why traditional Islam exists in tension with modern Western culture while at the same time it is also opposed by many currents of Islamic “fundamentalism.”  Nasr explains all the major points of tension—politics, philosophy, education, art, the role of women, and more—for traditional Isla, rooted in the Qur’an and the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad, differs from both modernism and Islam’s extremist factions.

–Back Cover/Published by Harper One

Kelly Cherry, a 1961 alumna of the University of Mary Washington, has been appointed by Gov. Bob McDonnell as Virginia’s new poet laureate, succeeding UMW Professor Claudia Emerson. Cherry becomes the third consecutive Virginia poet laureate with Mary Washington ties.

The University of Mary Washington will launch a semester-long celebration of civil rights pioneer James Farmer and the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides, Monday, Feb. 7, with a special kickoff event followed by a Freedom Rides scholar’s remarks.

The Multicultural Fair will be held on Saturday, April 9th from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. throughout the UMW campus community. The James Farmer Multicultural Center encourages everyone to attend or participate. Participation opportunities include, vending, performing, volunteering, or modeling in the Fashion Show.

If you are interested in any of the opportunities please visit the event’s website at http://www.umw.edu/multicultural/multicultural_fair/default.php or contact LaNita Weisenberger at lweisenb@umw.edu or (540) 654 – 1044.

Jess Rigelhaupt, assistant professor of history and American studies, and four UMW students served on a panel on “Oral History and Documenting James Farmer’s Legacy at the University of Mary Washington” at the 2010 meeting of the Oral History Association. Christiane Lauer ’11, Sadie Smith ’11, Justin Mattos ’10 and MacKenzie Murphy ’10, with Rigelhaupt, presented papers based on interviews the students conducted in Rigelhaupt’s course “Oral History and James Farmer,” which was taught in fall 2009. The interviews are available at farmeroralhistory.umwblogs.org, a website that documents Farmer’s contributions to UMW and was built as part of the course.  Lauer’s and Smith’s participation in the Oral History Association annual meeting was supported by an undergraduate research grant from the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office.