SCU Alum and Thought-Provoking Muslim Scholar Reza Aslan to Speak at Santa Clara

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Santa Clara University:

Speaker: Reza Aslan ’95 Author and Scholar of Religions
Date: Thursday, October 11, 2012
Speech: 7:30 PM
Media Availability: 5:15- 5:45
Place: Mayer Theater, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95050

Alum Reza Aslan ’95 will kick off the 2012-2013 SCU President's Speakers series Thursday. The writer is a scholar of religions, media entrepreneur, and one of the most articulate and candid political commentators on Islamic issues. His speech will focus on the promise and perils of the Arab Spring and explore what the deadly attack on the U.S. Embassy in Libya and multiple anti-American protests reveal about U.S. policy in the Middle East and American perception of Muslims.

Born in Tehran and raised in San Jose, Aslan speaks for a generation of Muslims who eschew the fundamentalist stereotype and want to usher in a new era of Islamic democracy. Extremism is winding down, he says, yet media coverage suggests the opposite. He recently participated in the #muslimrage tweets mocking a controversial Newsweek cover page about the embassy protests.

"Memo to those few violent MidEast protestors, this is how you fight Islamophobia, You make fun of it," tweeted @rezaaslan.

He is the author of the international bestseller No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam. He also wrote How to Win a Cosmic War, edited the 2011 anthology Tablet & Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East, and is a contributing editor to The Daily Beast. Aslan appears regularly in the media, including on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report.

Aslan serves as a member of many prominent foreign relations and policy councils, and on the boards of directors for numerous educational, cultural, and peacekeeping organizations.

In the corporate realm, Aslan is president and CEO of Aslan Media Inc., a media company focused on the Greater Middle East and its diaspora communities. He is also president of AppOvation Labs, a mobile applications company. He has degrees in religion from Santa Clara University, Harvard, and UC Santa Barbara, as well as a master of fine arts from the University of Iowa.

Tickets are available for purchase at the venue.

Press please RSVP to Marika E. Krause 408-829-4836 or mekrause@scu.edu.