As both Muslim and Western governments increasingly seek the help of so-called “moderate” Muslim leaders, we still know little about why some of them are better able to mitigate the growth of militant Islamist groups. This paper explores some of the conditions that make successful “moderate” mobilization possible. Examining the case of contemporary Java, Indonesia, it argues that, beyond ideology, the landscape of Islamic institutions and networks in which Muslim leaders take part either facilitate or hinder “moderate” mobilization. Precisely, it shows that strong inter-ulama networks and institutions tend to mitigate the risk and cushion the cost of moderate mobilization. This paper draws on a newly compiled dataset about Java’s 15,000 Islamic schools and 30,000 Muslim clerics and 13 months of fieldwork in East, Central, and West Java.

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-1898) was a major Muslim figure in nineteenth century colonial India whose critical work on religion, education, archaeology and science influenced generations. While his work is viewed as an effort to bring Muslims out of their isolation, seek modern western education, his writings addressed key issues of faith, identity and knowledge. In a speech delivered in 1884, Khan said, "Today we are, as before, in need of modern 'ilm-al-kalam', by which we should either refute the doctrines of the modern sciences or undermine their foundations, or show that they are in conformity with the articles of Islamic faith.” My talk will focus on Khan’s calls for only ijtehad (re-interpretation) and seeking a new conceptual framework to review the Sharia. His work remains relevant in the 21st century for not just South Asian Muslims but for the Muslim world at large.

This talk follows the pathways of a ziyarat (saint visitation) route, also known as Hajj-e Fuqara’ (pilgrimage of the poor) from bus stations in Iran through a bazaar in Gaziantep, Turkey to the Sayyida Zainab shrine near Damascus, Syria. Often referred to as Hajj-e Fuqara’ (pilgrimage of the poor) in Iran, this route has shuttled Iranian pilgrims as well as contraband goods such as oil, sugar and tobacco, across the three countries since the 1979 Revolution in Iran. This talk departs from the premise that Hajj-e Fuqara’ can be productively understood as a region-making route. In its pathways of this route, I trace the inter-articulations of saint visitation (ziyarat) with contraband commerce circuits (tejarat). In contrast to those who see in Islamic ritual the pre-determined stage for ethical cultivation and self-making pedagogy, in Iranian Pilgrims in Traffic, ritual emerges as a traffic built out of multiple cycles of religious, political and economic exchange. As a historical anthropology of this emergence, the project re-centers ritual in the anthropology of Islam as a generative dimension of social action and spatial production on a regional scale. On shifting political terrain through which buses of the Hajj-e Fuqara’ route moved, ziyarat and tejarat routes intersected in a traffic itself conditioned by differential mobility across borders. When studied ethnographically and historically that traffic—spun by pilgrims from Iran, Antep bazaar merchants, contraband couriers and Damascene shrine heirs over four decades—is a productive diagnostic of the uneven historicity and sociality of ziyarat as an Islamic ritual.

This event has been rescheduled from Wednesday, September 9, to Wednesday, September 16.

While Muslim societies are very diverse, a common feature is the high status of the written word, and the centrality of libraries. During our entire period, the authority of the ulamas derived from their ability to derive the law from the foundational books. On the other hand, individuals were encouraged to read, memorize, and follow the Qur’an as well as the important commentaries and fatwas. The library culture had other roots. Wealthy bibliophiles were mostly concerned with prestige and with the esthetics of calligraphy and illumination. An administrative book culture also emerged in the thirteenth century, and flourished with the Ottoman State elite. Finally, Nelly Hanna speaks of the different perspectives of the middle-class of Cairo or Damascus, once it owned its own books. In any case, each new social-cultural dynamic reinforced the central role played by public and private libraries in Islam.

Across the world, injustice perpetuates racial and ethnic inequalities, including policing practices, census and identity card categorizations, access to healthcare, education, employment, mobility, and political representation. Racial and ethnic inequalities are fundamentally about differential access to power, resources, protections, and rights. These injustices share common elements, but different histories and contexts shape them.

In this session of our webinar series, four experts on race and ethnicity will analyze global inequalities as they are experienced in local and regional forms, and analyze the implications of the contemporary moment for transformative change.

Moderator:

Rachel Beatty Riedl, Director of the Einaudi Center and Professor, Government Department, Cornell University.
Riedl teaches comparative and African politics, with an emphasis on political parties, democracy, and authoritarianism.

Panelists:

Prerna Singh, Political Science, Brown University.
Singh's research focuses on the intersection of ethnic conflict and competition, and the improvement of human well-being, particularly in the promotion of social welfare in South Asia.

Pap Ndiaye, History, Sciences Po (Paris).
Ndiaye's research focuses on transnational philosophies of race that draw both from American and French political thought, especially as they apply to the African diaspora populations of both countries.

Alisha Holland, Government, Harvard University.
Holland researches the comparative political economy of development with a focus on urban politics, social policy, and Latin America.

Leo Arriola, Political Science, University of California Berkeley.
Arriola studies comparative politics with a focus on democratization and governance in Africa.

The Lingua Mater competition invites students to translate Cornell's Alma Mater into a different language and submit a video of the performed translation. The inaugural Lingua Mater student competition took place in 2018 as part of Cornell's Global Grand Challenges Symposium. The top three videos received cash prizes.

2020 competition details

Can you translate Cornell’s Alma Mater into your mother tongue (or a language you are learning/have learned at Cornell) and sing it in public? We invite you to translate “Far Above Cayuga’s Waters” and submit a video of you (and your friends!) performing it somewhere - virtually - on any of Cornell’s campuses.

Translations do not need to be exact or perfectly in meter but should capture the feel and tune of our university’s Alma Mater. As is customary, include the first verse, refrain, second verse, and refrain in your video submission (for guidance, listen to a performance and read the lyrics).

Video submissions need to be MP4 files at 1920 x 1080 (1080p), in landscape mode with an aspect ratio of 16:9. Please ensure that you have copyright permission for any images/videos you use.

Entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges. Submissions will be judged equally on the translation, the musical quality, and the creativity in visual presentation.

The top three entries will win cash prizes.

Winners will be announced during International Education Week (November 16-20, 2020) and the top three videos will be posted online that week.

Entries may be submitted by any registered Cornell student or group of students.

Submission deadline: Sunday, November 1, 2020 at 5 pm

SUBMIT YOUR VIDEO HERE

Please contact Angelika Kraemer, Director of the Language Resource Center, if you have any questions.

The Lingua Mater competition is co-sponsored by the Language Resource Center and the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs.

The Lingua Mater competition invites alumni to translate Cornell's Alma Mater into a different language and submit a video of the performed translation. The inaugural Lingua Mater alumni competition took place in 2018 as part of Cornell's Global Grand Challenges Symposium. Winners included the Cornell Club of Thailand 2018 and the Cornell Club of Gaeta, Italy in 2019, and won financial support of a local alumni event.

2020 competition details

Can you translate Cornell’s Alma Mater into your mother tongue (or a language you learned at Cornell) and sing it in public? We invite you to translate “Far Above Cayuga’s Waters” and submit a video of you (and your friends!) performing it, wherever you may be!

Translations do not need to be exact or perfectly in meter but should capture the feel and tune of our university’s Alma Mater. As is customary, include the first verse, refrain, second verse, and refrain in your video submission (for guidance, listen to a performance and read the lyrics).

Video submissions need to be MP4 files at 1920 x 1080 (1080p), in landscape mode with an aspect ratio of 16:9. Please ensure that you have copyright permission for any images/videos you use.

Entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges. Submissions will be judged equally on the translation, the musical quality, and the creativity in visual presentation.

The top entry will receive financial support and Cornell swag for a local alumni event.

Winners will be announced during International Education Week (November 16-20, 2020) via Noteworthy, and the top three videos will be posted online that week. Be sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter to stay in the know of this competition and international alumni activities.

Entries may be submitted by any Cornell alumni groups outside of the United States and Canada.

Submission deadline: Sunday, November 1, 2020 at 5 pm

SUBMIT YOUR VIDEO HERE

Please contact the International Alumni Relations team if you have any questions.

The Lingua Mater competition is co-sponsored by the Office of International Alumni Relations, the Language Resource Center, and the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs.

Free and fair elections are an essential element of representative democracy, enabling societies to resolve conflict peacefully and permitting the people to select their public officials and hold them accountable. But Americans’ confidence in the legitimacy of elections has declined, battered by partisan voter suppression efforts and the erosion of the Voting Rights Act, Russia’s attempts to disrupt U.S. elections, and President Donald Trump’s unfounded charges of electoral fraud. Now the coronavirus pandemic presents additional obstacles. This session of our webinar series will assess the challenges to running a free and fair election in 2020—and how they can be overcome.

REGISTER NOW

Moderator:

David Bateman, Government, Cornell University. His research focuses on democratic institutions, with a particular focus on voting rights and representation.

Panelists:

Amel Ahmed, Political Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her work focuses on comparative democratization, including the origins of electoral institutions and the unintended consequences of electoral reform.

Jacob M. Grumbach, Political Science, University of Washington. His research focuses broadly on the political economy of the United States, with an emphasis on public policy, racial and economic inequality, and American federalism.

Richard L. Hasen, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science, University of California, Irvine. He focuses on election law and campaign finance regulation, legislation and statutory interpretation, remedies, and torts.

Democracy 20/20: A webinar series sponsored by the American Democracy Collaborative, Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, and the Institute of Politics and Global Affairs

The Democracy 20/20 webinar series brings together historical and comparative experts to promote deeper understanding of the challenges these unsettling times pose for American democracy. The series goes beyond the day-to-day rush of events to convene conversations that help us understand the broader context of our times and advance the search for constructive answers to our society’s most urgent questions.

Beginning in June 2020, the series will continue through the 2020 election. The stakes for American democracy have never been higher—so please join us for these critical conversations.