Kashif Saroya presents "American Muslims: The Next Generation"

Release Date: 10/29/09
Islamic scholar Kashif Saroya will give a talk entitled "American Muslims: The Next Generation" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, in Somers Lounge on The College of St. Scholastica campus. The event is free and open to the public.  

Saroya will examine issues of belief and practice on the minds and hearts of young men and women in Muslim communities in Minnesota and throughout the United States as they seek spouses and start their own families. 

He is president of the Advisory Council of Muslim Youth of Minnesota, an organization dedicated to "the nurturing of youth, the future generation of Muslims."

Saroya is also outreach director for the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, whose mission is to enhance knowledge of Islam and encourage intercultural dialogue to promote justice and mutual understanding. Saroya also directs a summer camp for Muslim youth, focusing on struggles for identity, self-definition, and empowerment.

His talk is part of St. Scholastica's two-year Oreck-Alpern Interreligious Forum series exploring six religious traditions: Catholicism, Judaism, Anishinaabe culture and spirituality, Buddhism, Islam, and Protestant Christianity.

The format has each of the six religious traditions be the focus of three sessions led by scholars from across the country. The first session in each explores the history and identity of the religious tradition; the second considers that faith's central beliefs and practices; and the third discusses current issues, tensions and questions faced by that religious community.

For more information about the series, contact Oreck-Alpern Interreligious Forum director Elyse Carter Vosen at (218) 723-6446 or evosen@css.edu.

Spring semester events in the program will be announced soon; check for updates at www.css.edu/irf.xml.

The College of St. Scholastica is regularly recognized as one of the finest colleges in the Midwest. The 2010 "America's Best Colleges" survey by U.S. News & World Report magazine ranks St. Scholastica in the top tier of Midwestern universities. The Washington Post has rated St. Scholastica as one of the nation's 100 "hidden gems" among U.S. colleges and universities.