Politics and New Media in the Muslim World

This forum, organized by Center for South Asia Studies, Center for Southeast Asia Studies, and Center for Middle Eastern Studies at UC Berkeley, with funding from the Social Science Research Council, will examine the new forces that have emerged, and transformations that have occurred, following the rapid expansion in the use of technology and new media, particularly by younger people, in talking about political issues and political change in different parts of the Muslim world. Forum speakers represent a diverse range of perspectives and are include practitioners and activists as well as journalists and scholars.

SPEAKERS:

Wajahat Ali (moderator) is the Associate Editor of www.altmuslim.com and maintains a regular blog (http://goatmilk.wordpress.com/) on issues concerning South Asia and the U.S., Islam, Muslims around the world, and Muslim-Americans.

Mohamed Abdel Dayem is Program Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa for the Committee to Protect Journalists in New York.

Haroon Moghul (http://avari.typepad.com/avari/) is Director of Public Relations for the Islamic Center of New York University and is the author of an influential and popular blog focused on issues concerning South Asia, the Middle East, Islam, and Muslim Americans. His novel, The Order of Light, was published in 2006.

Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (http://www.niknazmi.com) is a Malaysian politician who has been actively involved with Parti Keadilan Rakyat, the Malaysian opposition party led by Anwar Ibrahim, since he was a teenager. He began blogging in 2001 and also contributes a regular column to Malaysian Insider, an online news source.

Muhamad Ali (http://muhamadali.blogspot.com/) is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California-Riverside. His current research focuses on the varying manifestations of Islam in contemporary Indonesia.

Huma Yusuf is a freelance journalist based in Karachi, Pakistan. She is a regular contributor to The Dawn, Pakistan’s leading English-language daily, and the Christian Science Monitor as well as other news organizations.

Co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley Center for South Asia Studies, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and Center for Southeast Asia Studies, Arab Cultural and Community Center, Islamic Networks Group, and Meedan.net.