DISC faculty liaisons issued a joint statement to state representatives condemning the 2017 Executive Order that suspended visas and immigration benefits to individuals from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the name of “protecting the nation from foreign terrorist entry into the United States.” DISC reached out to students, faculty, and staff to gather testimonials about their interest in Islam to demonstrate why it is important for the public to engage in intercultural exchanges with Muslims in America.
To contribute your perspective to this resource, please fill out this form. The DISC project team will upload your contribution to the page as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please contact us at digital.islam@umich.edu.
Meghan Hough
Former DISC Social Media and Communications Intern
"Islam, or people's assumptions about Islam, became very visible in the media and in the world in general during my childhood. As such, I wanted to learn more about Islam for myself, instead of relying on often biased information given by the media or present in my environment...It's critical for us to try to understand values, ideals and practices that are important to other people. Especially within the United States, people with different ideas and religions often are automatically 'othered', simply because of a lack of knowledge. Making an attempt to learn more about, and study Islam, is one of the first steps in developing a community that includes, instead of excludes based on 'otherness'."
Charles Haberl
DISC Faculty Liaison, Rutgers University
"As a scholar of the human experience and our shared intangible inheritance, I study Islam to appreciate the diverse experiences of the billions of my fellow human beings who identify as Muslim, at home and abroad, as well as to understand better the broad spectrum of social and cultural diversity across humanity."
Valerie Hoffman
Former DISC Faculty Liaison, University of Illinois Urbabna-Champaign
"My graduate studies opened my eyes in unanticipated ways—as if all my life I had been living in a box without realizing it, surrounded by invisible walls and narrow horizons, but now I was acquiring expansive new insights into the history of human societies and intellectual life. I was fascinated by Islamic theology, philosophy and mysticism, and by the ways that Muslims were thinking through what it meant to be a Muslim in the modern age...Although Islam doesn’t explain everything in Muslim societies, the study of Islam is a wonderful introduction to societies across a remarkably broad geographical range, from West Africa to Central Asia and down to Southeast Asia. Because there is so much misinformation about Islam and Muslims in the media today, which stokes irrational fears, it would be wonderful if everyone learned about Islam and Muslim societies from informed sources."
Mohammad Khalil
DISC Faculty Liaison, Michigan State University
"In short, I was fascinated by the rich diversity that exists among the adherents of Islam...Islam is the world's second largest religion. Indonesia is the country with the world's largest Muslim population. And although most Arabs are Muslim, most Muslims are non-Arab. There is a rich diversity within Islam that many people are simply unaware of."