Faculty In The News - October 4, 2010

Professor Ingrid Mattson is cited as "perhaps the most noticed figure among American Muslim women" in a New York Times article on Muslim women gaining a higher profile in the United States. Read article

Professor Scott Thumma comments on the increasing number of non-denominational churches in an article in the Tennessean newspaper. "The whole complexion of organized religion is in flux," he says. Read article

Professor Ingrid Mattson, Director of the Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, comments on several current issues in the news in an interview prior to a lecture she will gice in Tulsa, OK. Read article

Read a profile of Professor Mahmoud Ayoub in Strait Times (Singapore) titled "Dialogue helps build bridges across religions; Persevering with it will bear fruit eventually, says interfaith scholar." Read profileÈ

Professor Yehezkel Landau is profiled in a column in the Hartford Courant on his recent trip to Nigeria: "Hartford Man Works for Religious Peace in Nigeria." Read column

Professor David Roozen, Director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, provides commentary on the increase in church attendance at Christmas. Christmas, Easter and the end of summer, when kids are starting school, are typically times of the year when churches see their highest attendance numbers, he says in a Minneapolis Star Tribune article. Read article

President Heidi Hadsell is a participant in a new research project, "The Resurgence of Religions in Southeast Asia: 1997-2011." The Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies is initiating the project, which starts with an international conference, which President Hadsell will attend, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, January 4-8, 2011. Details

President Heidi Hadsell has been elected to a four-year term on the Board of Directors of the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada.

In November, Professor Ingrid Mattson spoke on "Balanced Islam: Applying the Principles and Priorities of Islamic Ethics to Today's Challenges" at Merrimack College. View video of the lecture

President Heidi Hadsell is among eight diverse national religious leaders interviewed in Time magazine on the subject of the mosque and community center near Ground Zero in New York. Read articleÈ

Did you see the July 27 issue of Christian Century magazine? Scott Thumma, Professor of Sociology of Religion, is featured in a story on the trend toward megachurches. Read article 

Professor Ingrid Mattson attended President Barack Obama's annual White House iftar dinner, celebrating Ramadan, on Friday, August 13. Photo

Professor Yehezkel Landau, the Building Abrahamic Partnerships Program and the interfaith House of Abraham are featured in the September 2010 issue of Habitat for Humanity's Habitat World magazine. Read article