Podcast appearances and mentions of Charles Kurzman

On ACMCU's Building Bridges Podcast, we present a conversation on Muslim-Christian relations and highlight experts in the field and the work that they do. This episode features Dr. Charles Kurzman, author of the newly re-issued book "The Missing Martyrs: Why Are there so Few Muslim Terrorists".

Professor Charles Kurzman speaks with Sophia on his research on Muslim-Americans.

What is causing contemporary Islamophobia and how should we think about it ethically and politically? This episode features Carl Ernst, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. We discuss his book, Islamophobia in America: The Anatomy of Intolerance. It's available here: https://www.amazon.com/Islamophobia-America-Intolerance-C-Ernst/dp/1137321881. First, we discuss the spread of anti-Islamic propaganda groups over past 15 years. Some of them are tracked and profiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center: https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/anti-muslim. Christopher Bail analyzes others in his book, Terrified: How Anti-Muslim Fringe Organizations Became Mainstream: https://www.amazon.com/Terrified-Anti-Muslim-Fringe-Organizations-Mainstream/dp/069117363X We also explore several other explanations of Islamophobia. We discuss popular, nativist tendencies to blame social and economic problems on those perceived as cultural outsiders. Then we consider the role of the American government at the national and local levels. Finally, we speculate about anti-Islamic attitudes among the religiously unaffiliated. Second, we discuss critics of the category of Islamophobia who claim that it’s a “politically correct” attempt to shut down meaningful debate about Islam, and we draw distinctions between Islamophobia and ethical criticism. In this section, Ernst refers to the work of his UNC colleague Charles Kurzman: http://kurzman.unc.edu/muslim-american-terrorism/. Our third topic is how to respond to Islamophobia. We discuss the problematic strategy of idealizing Islam – Islamophilia. Then we turn to education, face-to-face human interaction, art, and satire. Ernst recommends novels by Muslim authors like The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf by Syrian-American author Mohja Kahf: https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Tangerine-Scarf-Novel/dp/0786715197. And, fourth, we talk about two specific cases. First, we look back on a controversy at UNC about teaching parts of the Qur’an to first-year students in 2002. Ernst reflects on his involvement in the controversy and lessons he learned. Second, we talk about the rhetoric and policy proposals of the 2016 Trump presidential campaign. Additional music by audionautix.com (“Long Live Death” and “I Like Peanuts”)

Charles Kurzman speaks with Marc Lynch about how past failed mobilizations can explain the challenges facing the Middle East after the 2011 uprisings. Kurzman is a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations.

Charles Kurzman speaks with Marc Lynch about how past failed mobilizations can explain the challenges facing the Middle East after the 2011 uprisings. Kurzman is a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and co-director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations. "There's the sense of disillusionment when things don't turn out well. The hopes and dreams that come crumbling down when the new institutions turn out not what you thought they ought to be. We saw this in Iran, when a huge portion of the population that was so active in bringing down the shah, then feels that their revolution was hijacked. This new Islamic Republic doesn't represent what they meant at all. We see it again after the uprisings of the Arab Spring; huge portions of the populations saying, 'No, no. This isn't what we wanted.'"

In this week's episode, sociology professor Charles Kurzman discusses terrorism and his research on the small number of Muslim-Americans who join militant groups.

From a statistical standpoint, should we all be so concerned about Islamic terrorists? On The Gist, UNC professor Charles Kurzman makes a public health analogy for the terrorism threat. He’s the author of The Missing Martyrs: Why There Are So Few Muslim Terrorists. Plus, I didn’t come here to make astronaut friends. Mike Pesca asks NASA scientist Ellen Stofan if they’ve ever considered funding missions with Reality TV. For the Spiel, everything is not awesome for The Lego Movie. Today’s sponsors: Harry’s, Promo Code: TheGist. Also, Friday Night Tykes. The new season premieres Jan. 20 at 9/8c on Esquire Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this webinar, Dr. Charles Kurzman, Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, will present his research on changing academic attention to world regions over the past 50 years, "attention" as measured by analyzing works published about each region of the world and collected in U.S. academic libraries for each year of publication since 1958. The patterns that emerge from this research will help to inform social scientists and educational policymakers about trends and possible gaps in scholarly attention to different regions of the world.