Noted Islamic Scholar to Speak at Lafayette March 25

Noted scholar Muge N. Galin, a lecturer in the department of English at Ohio State University, will make two presentations on Islamic Sufism Thursday, March 25, at Lafayette College.

At noon she will give a Brown Bag talk entitled “Turkish Sufi Women Today: The Power of Daily Practice,” based on a series of interviews with Turkish Sufi women, in the Limburg Theater, Farinon College Center. At 8 p.m. she will give a public lecture on “Sufism Between East and West” in the auditorium of Kirby Hall of Civil Rights. The lecture will discuss the differences between traditional Sufism, as practiced in the Islamic world, and the more popularized Sufism known in the West. Sponsored by the department of religion and supported by Lyman Coleman Fund, the talks are free and open to the public.

Sufism is an Islam-based Eastern mystical tradition more than 1,200 years old. In its modern forms in the West, it is more a systematized and despiritualized philosophy than a practice in earnest. Sufism is lumped together with dozens of other New Age movements noted more for abstract spiritualism than active worship. Yet, despite its imperfect and incomplete Western expressions, modern Sufism is noted for its accessibility, unlike the classical forms found in the Muslim world.

Galin is an independent lecturer, editor, and writing consultant for many scholars worldwide. She is the author of numerous works including the well-received study, Between East and West: Sufism in the Novels of Doris Lessing (State University of New York Press, 1997). She is coeditor of The Emergence of an Ottoman Woman Author: Fatma Aliye Hanim and Understanding Women: The Challenge of Cross-Cultural Perspectives, and is author of Intermediate Turkish; Advanced Turkish; and Turkish Sampler: Writings for All Readers.

Galin has received several grants including an American Research Institute in Turkey Grant and an Institute of Turkish Studies Research Grant.

For more information, call 610-330-5181.