Todd Green, author of The Fear of Islam: An Introduction to Islamophobia in the West (Fortress Press, 2015), will be interviewed about his book Wednesday, March 2, at 7 p.m. in the James B. Woulfe Alumni Hall in the Anderson Student Center on the St. Paul campus of the University of St. Thomas.
Todd Green
The program, sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, is free and open to the public.
Hans Gustafson, associate director of the Jay Phillips Center, will conduct the interview.
According to Green, “American and European societies, particularly since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, have struggled with the recurrent problem of Islamophobia, which continues to be expressed in waves of controversial legislative proposals, public anger over the construction of Muslim religious edifices and outbreaks of violence.”
The Fear of Islam explores the historical roots and contemporary forms of anxiety regarding Islam within the Western world, and Gustafson will interview Green about the main themes in his book, including the rise of political Islamophobia, the depiction of Muslims in the media and the importance of fighting anti-Muslim prejudice.
Green is associate professor of religion at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he teaches courses on European and American religious history as well as interfaith dialogue.
During the 2016-17 academic year he will serve as a Franklin Fellow with the U.S. State Department, advising the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs on Islam, Islamophobia and interfaith dialogue in Europe.
A regular contributor to The Huffington Post, Green has been interviewed by a variety of media outlets, including CNN, NPR, Al Jazeera, France 24 and Reuters. His views on Islamophobia have been cited by organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations, the Center for American Progress and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Gustafson serves as an adjunct professor in the departments of theology at the University of St. Thomas and the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in St. Joseph and Collegeville. His many publications include the book Finding All Things in God: Pansacramentalism and Doing Theology Interreligiously (Pickwick, 2015).
The Jay Phillips Center is a joint enterprise of St. Thomas and Saint John’s.
