Muslims in the Balkans Between Nationalism and Transnationalism

The Mary Choncoff Endowed Lecture will take place Thursday, March 30, at 7 p.m. in Arizona State University's Coor Hall, room 184. Ina Merdjanova will give a talk entitled: "Muslims in the Balkans between Nationalism and Transnationalism."

About the speaker:
Ina Merdjanova, who received her doctorate from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” in Bulgaria, has scholarly training in philosophy of religion, theology and sociology of religion. She is an adjunct assistant professor in the Irish School of Ecumenics at Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) and during the Spring 2017 semester is a visiting fellow in the Remarque Institute at New York University.  She has held visiting fellowships at Oxford University and other institutions in the U.K., Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands and in the U.S. In the Scientific Research Department of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski,” Merdjanova served as director of the Center for Interreligious Dialogue and Conflict Prevention from 2004–2010. In 2005, with Patrice Brodeur of Montreal University, she received a three-year collaborative grant from the United States Institute of Peace to research interreligious peacebuilding in the Balkans after the fall of communism. In 2010, she was awarded a two-year Senior Marie Curie Intra-European Career Development Fellowship, during which, among other projects, Merdjanova developed and taught three Master of Arts modules: “Muslims in the Balkans and the Building of a European Islam,” “Islam and Christianity in Southeast Europe: Contact, Conflict and Cooperation,” and “Religion and Peacebuilding in Southeast Europe." Her major publications include: "Religion, Nationalism and Civil Society in Eastern Europe — The Postcommunist Palimpsest" (Edwin Mellen Press, 2002), "Religion as a Conversation Starter: Interreligious Dialogue for Peacebuilding in the Balkans" (Continuum, 2009) with Patrice Brodeur, and "Rediscovering the Umma: Muslims in the Balkans between Nationalism and Transnationalism" (Oxford University Press, 2013) that was recently released in paperback.

 Registrations to [email protected] are appreciated.

Coor Hall, room 184, is located on the south side (exterior) of the Lattie F Coor Hall building on the ground/street level. The two entrance doors to Coor 184 are on the outdoor walkway running between Coor Hall and Payne Hall.