Drew Welcomes Egyptian Scholar, Activist as Faculty Visitor
MADISON, NJ—Internationally known civil rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim has joined the Drew University community as the school’s first-ever Wallerstein Distinguished Visiting Scholar. Ibrahim, an Egyptian professor of sociology, will conduct research and teach courses to Drew undergraduates throughout the 2009-10 academic year. On September 30, he will make a public appearance at Drew as the featured speaker at an event on the future of democracy in the Middle East.
“The combination of Dr. Ibrahim's scholarship and his personal story of commitment to achieving greater human rights and democracy in Egypt and the Arab world make him a compelling figure,” said Jonathan Golden, assistant professor of religion and associate director of Drew’s Center for Religion, Culture and Conflict. “His year at Drew will represent a unique opportunity for Drew students to interact with a major figure in the struggle for civil liberties and democracy in the Middle East.”
Dr. Ibrahim has spent most of his career as a professor of sociology at the American University in Cairo. His scholarly research has focused mainly on Islamic extremism and human rights. After the assassination of Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat, he was granted the unprecedented opportunity to interview those responsible to learn about their socio-economic and educational backgrounds. In the 1980s, his research on international human rights revealed substandard conditions in Egypt, which brought him to blows with President Hosni Mubarak, to whom he once served as a close advisor.
In 2000, Dr. Ibrahim was famously sent to prison for attempting to monitor the Egyptian electoral process, one that is known for corruption. Upon his incarceration, Western heads of state, news organizations and human rights advocacy groups banded together to demand his release. Under intense pressure from abroad, the government eventually freed him, but once again brought charges against him in 2008 for “defaming Egypt” in favor of democracy. He was convicted in absentia and sentenced to prison if he ever re-enters that country.
At the September 30 event, Dr. Ibrahim will discuss the possible emergence of democracy in the Middle East with Christopher Taylor, professor and chair of Drew’s department of religious studies. For more information or to register for the event, please visit depts.drew.edu/crcc.
The Wallerstein Distinguished Visiting Professorship was endowed in 2009 by Jane and Bernard Wallerstein with the goal of bringing exceptional scholars to Drew for semester- or year-long visits. The program is facilitated by the university’s Center for Religion, Culture and Conflict, and endeavors to enhance university courses and programs related to religious and cultural interaction.
Dr. Ibrahim is available for media interviews. Members of the press who wish to contact him may do so through Drew’s Office of Communications by calling 973/408-3817.
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Posted: September 17, 2009
