Gülen Movement Discussed in a Conference at University of Southern California

The “East and West Encounters: The Gülen Movement” Conference was held on Dec. 4-6 and was organized by the Pacifica Institute, a Turkish-American institution established by the Turkish community in the Los Angeles area. The conference was sponsored by the University of Southern California's Office of Religious Life, the International Education Center at Santa Monica College, the department of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University, the department of religious studies at Humboldt University and the department of religious studies at Whittier College. The conference was held on the USC campus.

During the conference, various topics about Gülen and his movement were discussed, including the characteristics of the Gülen movement, which were described as hizmet (service), the functionality of the movement in contrast to the organizational structure, the contribution of the movement in dialogue between Muslims and Christians, the personality of Gülen and his reflections on hajj, gender issues and the Gülen movement, and hijra (migration) for the sake of God by admirers of Gülen. Some other topics that were discussed included the education of young men as practiced in Gülen-inspired schools and a comparison between educational and spiritual foundations of Gülen schools and Jesuit schools in specific contexts, such as Gülen schools in Australia and Kosovo.

Again, among the topics that were discussed was a comparison between Gülen and Alasdair MacIntyre, who is a contemporary philosopher at the University of Notre Dame, and the contribution of Gülen to public life through the promotion of virtues and spirituality, as well as another paper that dealt with the critiques of Gülen and his movement in political, economic and ideological contexts. Dr. Kathleen Moore of the University of California at Santa Barbara spoke of Turkey's secularism and the Gülen movement. Dr. Juan Campo spoke on Gülen's reflections of hajj, which led me to think once again of the importance of studying Gülen from a religious perspective and not only from a political or sociological perspective.

For more information about this conference and the discussed topics, please visit the conference web site: http://www.gulenconference.net/

Academics Discussing Gülen Movement in Cairo, October 19-21

Leading academics from various countries will discuss the role of movements in the Muslim world and the experiences of the Gülen movement at Arab League headquarters in Cairo. The conference, jointly held by Cairo University's economic and political science faculty, Academic Studies and the Internet Foundation from Turkey, and Hira magazine, will start Oct. 19 and last for three days. It will be broadcast live on the Internet at www.arabturkdialog.com.

Professor Nadia Mustafa, the chairman of the program for civilization studies and dialogue of cultures at Cairo University's faculty of economics and political science, said the influence of the conference will be felt both in Egypt and throughout the Arab world. Noting that they have previously hosted many conferences but none like this one, which has already created much enthusiasm and interest, Mustafa indicated that they decided to organize the event in order to get to know the Gülen movement better.

Noting that organizing the meeting at the Arab League is the best example of rapprochement between Turkey and Arab countries, Nil Yayınları and Hira magazine's Middle East chief Şükrü Şahin said this is the first time the Arab League is hosting a conference of this nature.

Professor Bayyumi, who serves on the conference's organizing committee, said the Arab world's attention towards Turkey and the interest in the Gülen movement had paved the way for the organization of this kind of conference. Underlining that the conference will focus on the Gülen movement's Islamic background and global effects, Bayyumi said they will search for answers to questions such as "Why has the Gülen movement been more successful in positive dialogue than other Islamic movements?"

The Gülen movement was previously debated at the Kremlin, the European Parliament and the House of Lords as well as by internationally recognized academics in many countries including Australia, Iraq, Yemen and Pakistan. The Arabic translation of books written by Fethullah Gülen, who has become increasingly well known and observed with greater interest in the Arab world, is in high demand.

For more information about this conference, please visit: http://arabturkdialog.com/en/

Gülen Conference in Los Angeles - December 2009

The Gulen Movement, inspired by the Turkish Islamic thinker Fethullah Gulen, will be the subject of a conference exploring ways to find peace and tolerance between religions and societies.

The event is called The International Conference on East and West Encounters: The Gulen Movement and it will be held at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, Dec. 4-6, 2009. It is part of a series of such discussions organized by the Pacifica Institute that look at clash of civilizations and other global challenges.

Voted The World’s Top Living Public Intellectual in 2008 by Foreign Policy Magazine, Gulen is the inspiration of this social movement, also known as Hizmet (meaning “service” in Turkish) which aims at promoting interfaith and intercultural dialogue around the world.

In his sermons, Gulen addressed subjects that ranged from peace and social justice to philosophical naturalism. His dialogue stood out for its sensitivity, knowledge, logic, proper referencing and eloquence and attracted the attention of academics as well as ordinary people. Gulen himself describes his appeal  as “a gathering around high human values by means of education and dialogue.”

Gulen’s appeal eventually spread to people from different backgrounds, including non-Muslims who share his humanistic message. He used his growing influence to urge younger generations to adopt intellectual knowledge with a spirituality based in the faith tradition, and to serve fellow humans.

Today this social phenomenon has become a civic movement with pietistic roots. Students, teachers, academics, business owners and other volunteers participate in different ways helping to set up tutoring centers, schools, colleges, hospitals, a major relief organization, publishing houses and media institutions in Turkey and in more than one hundred countries.

The conference is organized by Pacifica Institute, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles and it is sponsored by the Office of Religious Life at the University of Southern California, the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University, the International Education Center at Santa Monica College, the Department of Religious Studies at Humboldt State University and the Department of Religious Studies at Whittier College.

Previous conferences on the Gulen Movement were held at Georgetown University (2008), The House of Lords and The London School of Economics (2007), the University of Oklahoma (2006) and Rice University (2005).

For more information contact Pacifica Institute by phone at 310-208-7290 or email at contact@gulenconference.net , or visit the official conference web site http://www.gulenconference.net.