- University of Central Florida News | UCF Today - https://www.ucf.edu/news -

Expert to Discuss Islam, Democracy in the 21st Century

John Voll, associate director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, will speak Thursday, April 11, at UCF on the topic “Islam and Democracy in the 21st Century.” The event will be held at 3 p.m. in the Cape Florida Ballroom of the Student Union.

Voll’s presentation is a feature of the Al Ghazali Islamic Studies Program, which promotes the understanding and appreciation of Islam and Muslim communities, and the Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Program for Strategic Research and Studies, which seeks to advance public awareness and cultural ties between the United States and Saudi Arabia. The event is free and open to the public.

Voll, author of “Islam: Continuity and Change in the Modern World,” has lived in Lebanon, Egypt and Sudan, and has traveled extensively throughout the Muslim world. In 1991, he received an Egyptian Presidential Medal in recognition for scholarship on Islam. Voll has served on the boards of directors of the American Council of Learned Societies, the New Hampshire Humanities Council, the New Hampshire Council on World Affairs and the Sudan Studies Association. In addition, Voll has edited, authored or co-written multiple books, including “Makers of Contemporary Islam,” in collaboration with John Esposito.

Voll’s program is made possible by the Al Ghazali Islamic Studies Program, housed in the UCF Global Perspectives Office, in partnership with the UCF College of Arts and Humanities, with the support of the UCF Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Program for Strategic Research and Studies, UCF Middle Eastern Studies Program, UCF Political Science Department and the Global Perspectives Foundation.