SC Humanities received a $4,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the American Library Association (ALA) to host two five-part reading and discussion programs titled “Let’s Talk About It: Muslim Journeys.” SC Humanities is one of 125 libraries and state humanities councils across the country selected to participate in the project, which seeks to familiarize public audiences in the United States with the people, places, history, faith and cultures of Muslims in the United States and around the world. The Muslim Journeys theme that SC Humanities has chosen to explore is “Points of View.”
“We are delighted to have been chosen to host this unique series that will give South Carolinians a chance to discuss some important themes in Muslim history and literature with the help of a well-qualified scholar,” said Dr. Randy L. Akers, Executive Director of SC Humanities.
The “Points of View” series includes the following titles:
In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
House of Stone by Anthony Shadid
Broken Verses by Kamila Shamsie
Dreams of Trespass by Fatima Mernissi
Two libraries have been selected by SC Humanities to host the “Let’s Talk About It: Muslim Journeys, Points of View” series in 2013 – 2014. The Friends of the Oconee County Library will host the series in September – December 2013 in Seneca, SC, and the Chapin Memorial Library in Myrtle Beach, SC will present the series in Winter/Spring 2014. The series will be available for other libraries to request starting in Summer 2014.
All of the books in the “Points of View” series are part of the Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys. The books and films comprising the Bookshelf were selected with the advice librarians and cultural programming experts, as well as distinguished scholars in the fields of anthropology, world history, religious studies, interfaith dialogue, the history of art and architecture, world literature, Middle East studies, Southeast Asian studies, African studies, and Islamic studies.
For more information, please visit www.schumanities.org or contact Theresa J. Wallace at tjwallace@schumanities.org or 803-771-2477.
The Bridging Cultures Bookshelf is a project of NEH, conducted in cooperation with the ALA Public Programs Office, with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Additional support for the arts and media components was provided by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Arts. Local support is provided by SC Humanities and the South Carolina State Library.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. SC Humanities programs and initiatives are balanced, reflecting sensitivity to the diversity of ideas, encourage open dialogue, demonstrate integrity, and are ethical in operations.
