Newsroom

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Edward Curtis, a scholar from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, will give a free public lecture at Oregon State University on Thursday, Nov. 18, on "Why Muslims Matter to U.S. History."

The free public lecture begins at 7 p.m. in the Construction & Engineering Auditorium at LaSells Stewart Center. It is sponsored by the Hundere Endowment in Religion and Culture at OSU.

Curtis will examine how non-Muslims have historically viewed Muslim Americans - and how Muslims have responded - to uncover the center of political power and cultural authority in the United States since the 1800s. He will also suggest a new way forward in relations between Muslims and non-Muslims in the contemporary United States.

Curtis, who is the Millennium Chair of the liberal arts and a professor of religious studies at the Indiana university, is the author or editor of six books on Muslim-American and African-American history, including "Muslims in America: A Short History," which was named one of the top 100 books of 2009 by Publishers Weekly. He also edited a two-volume "Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History."

He is the winner of fellowships from Carnegie, Fulbright, Mellon, and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and is prominent in national media outlets, including the Washington Post and National Public Radio.

The Hundere Endowment in Religion and Culture was started in 1994 through a substantial donation from an OSU alumnus, Al Hundere.