Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road

  

The Islamic Studies Program and the Inner Asian & Uralic National Resource Center would like to invite you to attend the inaugural Studies in the Formation of Islam lecture. This year’s lecturer, Dr. Johan Elverskog, will speak about Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road. Please join us inaugurating the lecture series by welcoming Dr. Elverskog in the Indiana Memorial Union’s Walnut room at 4:00 pm on April 21st, 2011.

The meeting of Buddhism and Islam is often conceived as one of violent confrontation. Indeed, the Taliban’s destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas in 2001 readily confirmed our preconceived imaginings: Islam is bad and violent, while Buddhism is good and peaceful. Yet, how accurate are these stereotypes? Moreover, how do these contemporary views shape our understanding of the past? The aim of this talk is to explore these questions by exploring the cultural exchanges that took place between Buddhists and Muslims in medieval Central Asia.

Dr. Elverskog is Altshuler University Distinguished Teaching Professor and Professor of Religious Studies at Southern Methodist University.  He is also the Director of Asian Studies and the SMU-in-Suzhou Program. He teaches various courses on the history of Asian religions, and his research focuses on the history of Inner Asia. He is the author and editor of seven books, including most recently Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road