Conference Introduction
Dr. Saqib Naseer, Vice President,
Pakistani American Association of
Connecticut
(PAACT)
Session I opening remarks by moderator
Session Moderator: Nadia Naviwala
Nadia Naviwala has trained at Harvard University Kennedy School of Government
and at
Georgetown
University. She is a graduate of the
Belfer
Center
for Science and International Global Affairs. Nadia has served as a Legislative
Aide on National Security for a U.S. Senate committee on Foreign Relations and
Armed Services as well as a Legislative Correspondent at U.S. Senate. She has
worked as a Summer Consultant for the Citizens Foundation. Her professional
experience includes work with the Embassy of Pakistan in Washington DC, the US
committee for UNDP and a prominent government relations firm. She currently
works as a student associate with a program on Afghanistan and Pakistan at Carr
Center for Human Rights Policy.
Hassan Abbas
“Radicalization trends in
South Asia
and Their relevance to the West”
Dr. Hassan Abbas is Quaid-i-Azam Chair Professor at Columbia University in New
York. He is also a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the Asia Society’s New York
headquarters and a Senior Advisor at the
Belfer
Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of
Government, Harvard University, after having been a Research Fellow at the
Center from 2005 to August 2009. He is also a non-resident Fellow at the
Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU),
Michigan,
and an Associate of the Pakistan Security Research Unit (PSRU),
University of
Bradford, in the United Kingdom. He received his Ph.D. from the Fletcher School
of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University and an LL.M. in International Law from
Nottingham University,
UK, where he was a Britannia Chevening Scholar (1999). Hassan also remained a
visiting fellow at the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School
(2002–2003) and as a visiting scholar at the Harvard Law School's Program on
Negotiation (2003–2004).
His research interests are nuclear proliferation, religious extremism in South and Central Asia, and relations between Muslims and the West.
Hassan is a former Pakistani government official who served in the administrations of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto (1995–1996) and President Pervez Musharraf (1999–2000). His latest book, Pakistan's Drift into Extremism: Allah, the Army and America's War on Terror (M.E. Sharpe) has been on bestseller lists in India and Pakistan and was widely reviewed internationally, including by the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Far Eastern Economic Review, The Hindu, and Dawn. He has also appeared as an analyst on CNN, M SNBC, C-Span, Al-jazeera, and PBS, and as a political commentator on VOA and BBC. His forthcoming book is Letters to Young Muslims on Science, Sovereignty and Sufis. He runs WATANDOST, a blog on Pakistan and its neighbors' related affairs.
Dr.
Marc Sageman
“Violent Extremism- What American
Muslims Need to Know about the Process”
Marc Sageman, Senior Fellow, is an independent researcher on terrorism and the
founder of Sageman Consulting, LLC. He holds various academic positions at the
University of Pennsylvania, the University of Maryland, and national think tanks
including FPRI and the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
After graduating from Harvard, he obtained an M.D. and a Ph.D. in sociology from New York University. After a tour as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Navy, he joined the Central Intelligence Agency in 1984. He spent a year on the Afghan Task Force then went to Islamabad from 1987 to 1989, where he ran the U.S. unilateral programs with the Afghan Mujahedin, and New Delhi from 1989–91. In 1991, he resigned from the agency to return to medicine. He completed a residency in psychiatry at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Since 1994, he has been in the private practice of forensic and clinical psychiatry and has had the opportunity to evaluate about 500 murderers.
After 9/11, he started collecting biographical material on about 400 Al Qaeda terrorists to test the validity of the conventional wisdom on terrorism. This research has been published as Understanding Terror Networks (University of Pennsylvania Press 2004) and Leaderless Jihad (UPP, 2007). As an expert on Al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations, he has consulted with various branches of the U.S. government, including the National Security Council, the Department of Defense, the Combatant Commanders, the National Laboratories, the Department of Homeland Security, various agencies in the U.S. intelligence community, the U.S. Secret Service, the New York Police Department, and various other law enforcement agencies. He has lectured at many universities, including Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, MIT, the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, the University of California at Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins University. He has also consulted with foreign government (France, Australia, Spain, Canada, Germany, Britain) and lectured extensively at foreign universities.
Todd Shea
“Radicalization: Action OR Reaction-
Chicken and Egg question?”
Todd Shea, an American who came to volunteer in Pakistan after the 2005
earthquake, a disaster that killed 80,000 people, never left. Mr. Shea
established a charity hospital in
Kashmir
called CDRS, or Comprehensive Disaster Relief Services, which provides quality
healthcare services to the people in the remote and earthquake affected areas in
northwest
Pakistan.
Todd lives in Pakistan and has made a far bigger impact on winning hearts and
minds of people than any other governmental efforts that may have. He lives
amongst the people and has been able to learn first hand on what is happening in
the hearts and minds of people on ground.
Mr. Shea has been profiled by the New York Times for work and his capacity to
make a difference single handedly when teams of consultants, think tanks,
various groups could not do. He went inside the North West Part of Pakistan and
help change the understanding about Americans in the hearts and minds of the
people of
Pakistan.
Todd is a singer and has started to sing Urdu songs in Pakistan in front of large audiences and has also shared American songs with the people over including songs he has written himself. Mr. Shea’s understanding of the feelings of the people on ground in Pakistan has allowed him to have frank discussions with Members of Congress in DC and he has shared his ways of building better understanding and preventing radicalization in the region.
Prof. Vernon James Schubel
“Seeking a Counter-Reformation in
Islam: Tradition as an Antidote to Radicalism”
Vernon James Schubel (B.A., Oklahoma State; M.A., Ph.D., University of
Virginia), joined the faculty of
Kenyon
College in 1988. In addition to Religion 101 he teaches a variety of courses on
Islam, including Classical Islam, Islam in
Central Asia,
and Sufism; and Religions of South Asia.
Professor Schubel’s primary research interest is Islam in Central and South Asia. He has spent seven months as a Fulbright scholar in Multan, Pakistan, in 1989, where he conducted research on centers of Sufi pilgrimage, and in 1996 he spent seven months of research in Uzbekistan. His book, Religious Performance in Contemporary Islam, was published by the University of South Carolina Press in 1993.
He has spoken at various national and international venues to talk about Islam and aspects of theology which may lead to extreme views which may lead to violence. Professor Schubel has been a source of inspiration for hundreds of students and audience because of his depth of knowledge of Islam. His work on understanding and teaching about Sunni and Shia perspective of faith and the commonality and the path of love has made the people with extreme views irrelevant with their twisted theological theories.
Professor Adil Najam
“Causes of Radicalization in
United
States”
Dr.
Adil Najam is the Frederick S. Pardee Professor of Global Public Policy at
Boston University. He also serves as the Director of the Pardee Center for the
Study of the Longer-Range Future and a Professor of International Relations and
of Geography and Environment. He served as a Lead Author for the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), work for which the IPCC was
awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore. Prof. Najam has also
taught at MIT, University of Massachusetts and at the Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy, Tufts University.
Prof. Adil Najam's research focused on issues of global public policy, especially those related to South Asia, Muslim countries, environment and development, and human well-being. He served as a Lead Author for the Third and Fourth Assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), work for which the IPCC was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Prof. Najam has written nearly 100 scholarly papers and book chapters, and his recent books include: Pakistanis in America: Portrait of a Giving Community (2006); Trade and Environment Negotiations: A Resource Book (2006); Envisioning a Sustainable Development Agenda for Trade and Environment (2006); Environment, Development and Human Security: Perspectives from South Asia (2003). He is a past winner of MIT's Goodwin Medal for Effective Teaching, the Fletcher School Paddock Teaching Award, and the Stein Rokan Award of the International Political Science Association, the ARNOVA Emerging Scholar Award, and the Pakistan Television Medal for Outstanding Achievement. Prof. Najam also serves on the editorial boards of various scholarly publications, including Global Governance, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, The Journal of Ecological Economics, Annual Editions: Environment, and The Encyclopedia of Earth. Prof. Najam is frequently interviewed by and writes for the popular media and is the founding editor of the blog Pakistaniat.com.
Adil Najam is an expert in international diplomacy and development. His research interests include sustainable development, Muslim and South Asian politics, environmental politics in developing countries, and philanthropy among immigrant communities in the United States. Much of his work has focused on longer-term global policy problems, especially those related to human well-being and sustainable development. He contributed to Pakistan's first environmental policy document, as well as to that country's report to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, has worked closely with governments and civil society in both industrialized and developing countries, and regularly collaborates with the United Nations. Prof. Najam is an Associate at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), a Visiting Fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), and serves on the Boards of the Pakistan Institute for Environment-Development Action Research (PIEDAR) and the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria, Canada.
Session II opening remarks by moderator
Session Moderator: Professor Adil
Najam
Dr. Adil Najam is the Frederick S. Pardee Professor of Global Public Policy at
Boston University. He also serves as the Director of the Pardee Center for the
Study of the Longer-Range Future and a Professor of International Relations and
of Geography and Environment. He served as a Lead Author for the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), work for which the IPCC was
awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with Al Gore. Prof. Najam has also
taught at MIT, University of Massachusetts and at the Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy, Tufts University.
Prof. Adil Najam's research focused on issues of global public policy, especially those related to South Asia, Muslim countries, environment and development, and human well-being. He served as a Lead Author for the Third and Fourth Assessments of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), work for which the IPCC was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Prof. Najam has written nearly 100 scholarly papers and book chapters, and his recent books include: Pakistanis in America: Portrait of a Giving Community (2006); Trade and Environment Negotiations: A Resource Book (2006); Envisioning a Sustainable Development Agenda for Trade and Environment (2006); Environment, Development and Human Security: Perspectives from South Asia (2003). He is a past winner of MIT's Goodwin Medal for Effective Teaching, the Fletcher School Paddock Teaching Award, and the Stein Rokan Award of the International Political Science Association, the ARNOVA Emerging Scholar Award, and the Pakistan Television Medal for Outstanding Achievement. Prof. Najam also serves on the editorial boards of various scholarly publications, including Global Governance, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, The Journal of Ecological Economics, Annual Editions: Environment, and The Encyclopedia of Earth. Prof. Najam is frequently interviewed by and writes for the popular media and is the founding editor of the blog Pakistaniat.com.
Adil Najam is an expert in international diplomacy and development. His research interests include sustainable development, Muslim and South Asian politics, environmental politics in developing countries, and philanthropy among immigrant communities in the United States. Much of his work has focused on longer-term global policy problems, especially those related to human well-being and sustainable development. He contributed to Pakistan's first environmental policy document, as well as to that country's report to the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, has worked closely with governments and civil society in both industrialized and developing countries, and regularly collaborates with the United Nations. Prof. Najam is an Associate at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), a Visiting Fellow at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), and serves on the Boards of the Pakistan Institute for Environment-Development Action Research (PIEDAR) and the Centre for Global Studies at the University of Victoria, Canada.
Dr.
MGM Qureshi
“How times have changed? Being an
American Muslim now VS the past”
Dr. Qureshi started his medical training at Dublin Royal College in Neonatology
and Pediatrics. He had the rare and privileged opportunity to train and teach in
educational facilities in England, Scotland and Wales. He continued his career
in Jinnah Hospital Karachi as a private practitioner and came to host his own
radio and television programs related to child health care. He availed the
opportunity to come to the United States to join a research program related to
Pediatrics in Bristol Connecticut and later joined Blue Cross Blue Shield Claims
department. He moved to Houston where he climbed the corporate ladder in the
health care insurance company. Because of various health setbacks, he has been
able to see the American society both thru the prism of a physician and as a
patient. He has remained optimistic at all times and a role model for his family
and community.
Dr.
Yusra Anis-Anwar
“Raising children in
America-
Home Grown Worriers”
Dr. Yusra Anis-Anwar was born in Pakistan but came to the United States at a
young age and completed her elementary education in Wisconsin. Her father’s
employment in the United Nations led her to Saudi Arabia where she finished her
high school education. Yusra completed her Medical School at Aga Khan University
in Karachi, Pakistan following which she came to Connecticut in 1992 to train at
the University of Connecticut Health Center in Internal Medicine and specialize
in Hypertension and Vascular Diseases. Since 2000 she has been working as a
Primary Care Physician in Connecticut. She has two children and is actively
involved in their lives both at school and outside school.
Yasmin Hafeez
“Challenges and Opportunities for
American Muslim Youth”
Author of a best seller book, “American Muslim Teenagers Hand Book”
Yasmine Hafiz, a student at Yale University, and speaks nationally and
internationally on the culture of America’s Muslim youth. The American Muslim
Teenager’s Handbook, has been called accessible and provocative, is a fresh
perspective on Islam updated for the 21st century. The essentials of Muslim
beliefs are interspersed with lively commentary and quotes from American Muslim
teenagers. Each chapter deals with a timely subject in Islam, beginning with
excerpts from the Quran and a teen-friendly interpretation of that verse, then
offering real-world examples that illustrate the essence of Muslim life.
Muslim teenagers across America contributed their thoughts on living as American
Muslims, expressing their heartfelt belief that one can successfully fulfill
that role through better education and greater understanding – hence the need
for the user-friendly Handbook. There is a dearth of current literature that
addresses Muslim teens or discusses Islam in a progressive context. With books
such as this one, the media’s constant refrain of “Where are the Moderate
Muslims?” is no longer a valid question. Anyone curious about the silent
majority of Muslims who do not receive media coverage will find this a
refreshing, fascinating read.
Yasmine possesses a strong background in Islam, but it is their insightful
combined experiences in Sunday school, as teenage students, interfaith
activists, and public speaker that elevate the Handbook into a ‘must-read book’
for anyone interested in Islam.
Yasmine is currently doing an internship with the State department. She is at
Yale University and is a part of her own radio show as well as active in
accessing youth beyond US in the Muslim majority countries as well.
Mansoor Alam
“Rising above the challenges”
Mansoor Alam is a 16 year old Pakistani-American entering the 12th grade at
Cheshire High School in Cheshire, CT. Through political involvement Mansoor has
sought to defeat the barriers of racial and religious discrimination in the
community. In middle school Mansoor experienced bullying and name calling. He
rose about the challenges and name calling and initiated his work to help manage
the ignorance and misinformation.
Mansoor is founder and the current executive officer of the “Young Democrats of
Cheshire”. He has been involved extensively with the Connecticut Democratic
Headquarters, and worked with Dan Malloy, Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Esty.
Mansoor is the founding president of “Enough”, a student-led group that
advocates for peace, progress and unity in the Middle East. Enough is a group
currently composed of over 80 members from New Haven County. The group has
sponsored lectures on topics such as “De Mystifying Islam” as well as organized
many rallies confronting a wide range of issues. Enough members and
collaborators include teenage youth of Muslim, Jewish, Christian and other
faiths to work together to help them become part of social change locally,
nationally and beyond. Enough has been working to help build an orphanage in
Pakistan. The efforts of the group have won them many awards, including the 2010
“Be The Change” award, as well as a nomination for the 2010 “Princeton Prize in
Race Relations.”
Haroon Moghul
“Challenges and opportunities in our
Masajids (Mosques) in US”
Haroon Moghul is Executive Director of The Maydan Institute. He served as
Director of Public Relations at the Islamic Center at New York University (NYU)
from 2007 to 2009. Mr. Moghul holds an M.A. in Middle East and South Asian
Studies from Columbia University, where he is currently a Ph.D. candidate. His
fields of study include Muslim nationalism in South Asia, colonial and
post-colonial Islamic politics and the development of the Indian Ocean economy.
Mr. Moghul graduated from NYU in 2002 with a B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies and
Philosophy, and a minor in Arabic. He has also has studied Persian, Punjabi,
Hindi and Urdu. He was nominated for the 2009 Presidential Award for Best
Teaching by a Graduate Student at Columbia University.
Mr. Moghul’s sermons and lectures are included in the Islamic Center at NYU’s
new media services, which average over 30,000 unique downloads per month from
over 120 countries. His academic engagements include Columbia University, the
University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan, the University of
California-Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota. Mr. Moghul has been
interviewed by or otherwise featured on CNN, al-Hurra, The History Channel,
ABC-7, Voice of America, National Public Radio (NPR), UN Radio (Arabic), The New
Yorker, TIME, the Guardian, and The National (Abu Dhabi).
Formerly contributing editor and end-page columnist for Islamica Magazine, Mr.
Moghul maintains a popular blog, Avari, which won several Brass Crescent Awards,
including wins for Best Muslim Blog, Best Thinker and Best Writing. His essays
and articles have been published in a variety of international media, including
Pakistan's Dawn and The Friday Times, as well as American media, including
Tikkun and Religion Dispatches. He prepares policy reports and analyses for
Tabah Foundation, an Abu-Dhabi based think-tank devoted to bridging Muslim
tradition and contemporary Western politics and thought. Mr. Moghul’s first
analytic brief, published in English and Arabic, considered the role of Muslim
scholars in encouraging dialogue with the United States. His first novel, The
Order of Light, was released by Penguin Global in 2006. A French translation,
Comment j'ai échappé à l'Ordre de lumière, was published by Cherche Midi in
2007. Haroon Moghul has been selected as one of over 500 global Muslim Leaders
of Tomorrow (MLT) and participated in the MLT Conference in Doha, Qatar (2009).
Mr. Moghul will be presenting his research into the effects of new media at the
Parliament of World Religions in Melbourne, Australia.
Muntasir Sattar
“Social Change and Opportunities for
South Asian Youth: Self Help Initiative”
Muntasir Sattar, is currently the Young Men's Development Coordinator for the
South Asian Youth Action (SAYA), he has previously served as the Academic
Program Manager at South Asian Youth Action. He is a graduate of Reed College
and currently a student at Teachers College in New York. He just completed his
first year in an anthropology and education doctoral program.
South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!) was founded in 1996 with the mission to create social change and opportunities for South Asian youth to realize their fullest potential. It is the only organization in the country dedicated to providing non-sectarian comprehensive youth development services to the South Asian community—one of the fastest growing minority groups in New York City. SAYA! Provides low-income South Asians, ages 5 to 19, with academic support, leadership development and athletic opportunities that equip them for healthy and successful lives in the United States.
Session III opening remarks by moderator
Session Moderator: Dr. Saud Anwar
Saud Anwar MD, MPH, FCCP, has specialized in Pulmonary Medicine and Critical
Care medicine at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. He then joined the
department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Yale University and
completed his fellowship in Occupational and Environmental Medicine and earned
his Masters in Public Health (MPH) at Yale University. He is currently also
serving as Chair of the Department of Family Practice and Internal Medicine of
two of the regional hospitals in Connecticut and Vice Chair of ethics committee
for the two hospitals.
Dr. Saud Anwar has served as the President of the Pakistani American Public
Affairs Committee. PAKPAC since 1989 has been a nationwide, membership based,
not for-profit advocacy organization registered with the US Federal Election
Commission. PAKPAC's mission is to advance and strengthen U.S.-Pakistan
relations, while working to preserve, protect and promote ideals of civil
liberties cherished by all Americans.
Dr. M. Saud Anwar is also the founder and current Co-Chair of American Muslim
Peace Initiative. Their work includes strengthening the intra-faith and
interfaith understanding within Islam and between Islam and other religions.
AMPI work has included help and support to under privileged communities in
United States, and peace missions to Middle East and South Asia.
Dr. Anwar is the Founder and the Past-President of Pakistani American
Association of Connecticut. He is one of the Founders of Association of
Pakistani Professionals (AOPP). He has served as the chairperson for The
Disaster Management Committee of the Association of Pakistani Physicians of
North America (APPNA) and the Legislative, Advocacy and Governmental Affairs
Committee of APPNA. He has served as the Vice President of Pakistan Public
Health Foundation, and Board of Directors of Ibtida, an organization working
towards children and women literacy in rural parts of Pakistan
Dr. Anwar’s activities and volunteerism to coordinate a response in the
aftermath of September 11th earned him official recognition from the American
Red Cross. He has testified to the 109th Congress for the Committee on Homeland
Security about the American Muslim Community. He has also testified to the State
of Connecticut legislature on multiple occasions. He is currently the Chair of
the Human Relations Commission for the town of South Windsor and member of the
States Commission for the Asian Pacific American Community. For his services to
the immigrant communities as well as to the State of Connecticut in his various
roles his work has been recognized by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor,
Attorney General, Secretary of State and many legislators of the Connecticut
General Assembly.
Ambassador Husain Haqqani, Ambassador of Pakistan to United States
“The
Pakistan –United States Partnership for Prevention of Radicalization”
Husain Haqqani is currently serving as Pakistan's Ambassador to the United
States in Washington, DC. A trusted advisor of former Pakistani Prime Minsiter,
Ms Benazir Bhutto, Ambassador Haqqani is known as a Professor at Boston
University and former Director of the Center for International Relations. He is
also the Co-Chair of the Hudson Institute's Project on the Future of the Muslim
World as well as editor of the journal ‘Current Trends in Islamist Thought'
published from Washington DC.
Haqqani came to the U.S. in 2002 as a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment
for International Peace in Washington DC and an adjunct Professor at the School
of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. He is a
leading journalist, diplomat, and former advisor to Pakistani Prime ministers.
His syndicated column is published in several newspapers in South Asia and the
Middle East, including Oman Tribune, Jang, The Indian Express, Gulf News and The
Nation (Pakistan). Haqqani started his journalism career with work as East Asian
correspondent for Arabia - The Islamic World Review and Pakistan and Afghanistan
correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review . During this period he wrote
extensively on Muslims in China and East Asia and Islamic political movements.
Covering the war in Afghanistan enabled him to acquire deep understanding of the
militant Jihadi groups.
Haqqani has contributed to numerous international publications, including The
Wall Street Journal , The New York Times , International Herald Tribune, Foreign
Policy, The Los Angeles Times, The New Republic and The Financial Times . He
regularly comments on Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Islamic politics and extremism
on BBC, PBS, CNN, NBC, Fox News and ABC. Haqqani also had a distinguished career
in government. He served as an advisor to Pakistani Prime ministers Ghulam
Mustafa Jatoi, Nawaz Sharif, and Benazir Bhutto. From 1992 to 1993 he was
Pakistan's ambassador to Sri Lanka.
Mr Haqqani's 2005 book ‘Pakistan Between Mosque and Military' has been praised
in major international journals and newspapers as a path-breaking book on
Pakistan's political history. Other recent publications include Pakistan:
Avoiding the Traps of the Past (Policy brief, Carnegie Endowment, 2002); The
Gospel of Jihad (Foreign Policy magazine, September-October 2002); Islam's
Medieval Outposts (Foreign Policy, November-December 2002; Islam's Weakened
Moderates (Foreign Policy, July-August 2003); Political Islam beyond the Middle
East: Pakistan and Afghanistan (in ‘Political Islam: Challenges for U.S.
Policy', Aspen Institute, July 2003), Think Again: The Causes of Islamist
Terrorism (Foreign Policy, January 2006).
Margo Schlanger
“Securing
America while Protecting our Civil Rights”
Margo Schlanger, Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, DHS (CRCL). CRCL
office’s activities include particular attention to outreach and communication
with American Arab, Muslim, Sikh, Somali, and South Asian communities. Congress
established this position, reporting directly to the Secretary, to, among other
things, “assist the Secretary, directorates, and offices of the Department to
develop, implement, and periodically review Department policies and procedures
to ensure that the protection of civil rights and civil liberties is
appropriately incorporated into Department programs and activities,” and to
“review and assess information concerning abuses of civil rights, civil
liberties, and profiling on the basis of race, ethnicity, or religion, by
employees and officials of the Department.
Professor Margo Schlanger joined the University of Michigan Law School as a new
faculty member in Fall 2009, bringing her expertise in civil rights, prison
reform, torts, and empirical legal studies. Prior to that, she had been a
professor at Washington University in St. Louis, and an Assistant Professor of
Law at Harvard from 1998 to 2004. She earned her J.D. from Yale in 1993; while
at Yale, she served as Book Reviews Editor of the Yale Law Journal and received
the Vinson Prize. She then served as law clerk for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
from 1993 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998, Prof. Schlanger was a trial attorney in
the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, where she worked to remedy
civil rights abuses by prison and police departments and earned two Division
Special Achievement Awards in the process. Prof. Schlanger is the founder and
(when not on leave) the director of the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, a
web-based repository of information and documents relating to large-scale civil
rights injunctive cases. The Clearinghouse is housed at the law school.
Prof. Schlanger, a leading authority on prisons and inmate litigation, was the
reporter for the American Bar Association's revision of its Standards governing
the Legal Treatment of Prisoners. She served on the Vera Institute’s blue ribbon
Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons, and she worked as an
advisor on development of proposed national standards implementing the Prison
Rape Elimination Act. She has testified before the Prison Rape Elimination
Commission about litigation and its role in preventing sexual abuse in jails and
prisons, and before Congress in support of proposed amendments to the Prison
Litigation Reform Act. She has served as chair of the Association of American
Law School’s section on Law and the Social Sciences. In future years, Prof.
Schlanger will teach torts, constitutional law, and classes relating to civil
rights (such as Civil Rights Injunctions) and to prisons (such as the
Constitutional Law of Incarceration).
Pervez Hoodbhoy
Professor of Nuclear Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy has been a faculty member at the Quaid-e-Azam University
since 1973. In 1984 he received the Abdus Salam Prize for mathematics and is the
author of 65 scientific research papers. He is chairman of Mashal, a non-profit
organization which publishes books in Urdu on women’s rights, education,
environmental issues, philosophy, and modern thought.
Dr. Hoodbhoy has written and spoken extensively on topics ranging from science in Islam to education issues in Pakistan and nuclear disarmament. He produced a 13-part documentary series in Urdu for Pakistan Television on critical issues in education, and two series aimed at popularizing science. He is author of ’Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality’, now in 5 languages.
In 2003, Dr. Hoodbhoy was awarded UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize for popularizing science in Pakistan with TV serials and his film ’The Bell Tolls for Planet Earth’ won honorable mention at the Paris Film Festival.
Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy received his bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics, master's in solid state physics, and Ph.D in nuclear physics, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been a faculty member at the Department of Physics, Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad since 1973. In 1984 he received the Abdus Salam Prize for mathematics and, earlier, the Baker Award for Electronics. He is chairman of Mashal, a non-profit organization that publishes books in Urdu on women's rights, education, environmental issues, philosophy, and modern thought. Dr. Hoodbhoy has written and spoken extensively on topics ranging from science in Islam to education issues in Pakistan and nuclear disarmament. He produced a 13-part documentary series in Urdu for Pakistan Television on critical issues in education, and two other major television series aimed at popularizing science. He is author of "Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality", now in 5 languages. His writings have appeared in Dawn, The News, Frontier Post, Muslim, Newsline, Herald, Jang, and overseas in Le Monde, Japan Times, Washington Post, Asahi, Seattle Times, Post-Intelligencer, Frontline, The Hindu, and Chowk Magazine. He has been an engaged speaker at more than twenty US campuses including MIT, Princeton, Univ. of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University. He has appeared on several TV and radio networks (BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, PBS, NPR, Fox) to analyze political developments in South Asia.
4:15pm to 4:30pm: Dr. Steve Eichel
“The Psychological Web of the
Extremist Mind and How to undo it?”
Dr. Steve K. D. Eichel helped in the understanding and management of the
“Beltway Sniper” Lee Malvo’s case as well as other terrorist cases in custody.
He is Forensic Psychologist with experience and interest in violent extremism.
His efforts in treating extremists from many faith communities gives him an
insight into better prevention, identification and treatment of these cases
before they reach the point of forensic psychology.
Dr. Eichel received his B.A. from Columbia University, and his M.S. and Ph.D.
degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He has been a licensed psychologist
since 1982. After completing a clinical psychology internship at the Devereux
Foundation, he worked at the Irving Schwartz Institute for Children & Youth,
followed by several years as the director for a large urban mental health center
in Camden, NJ. He was then appointed consulting forensic psychologist to the
Family Court and juvenile justice systems of Camden County (NJ). Returning to
Pennsylvania, Dr. Eichel served as Clinical Director of the St. Francis Homes
for Boys from 1989-1994, and directed the well-regarded Widener
University-affiliated clinical psychology internship there. He also worked as a
training consultant to the University of Medicine & Dentistry of NJ and as a
family therapist for Community Centered Treatment, a multisystemic family
therapy program funded by the Montgomery County (PA) family court and juvenile
justice system.
Dr. Eichel is on the faculty of Villanova University's drug & alcohol counseling
program and he is an Adjunct Professor in the counseling psychology program at
Arcadia University where he has taught the course on advanced trauma counseling.
He has srved as President of the Greater Philadelphia Society of Clinical
Hypnosis (GPSCH). Dr. Eichel was the 2006-07 President of the American Academy
of Counseling Psychology, one of the national academies of advanced
practitioners (ABPP diplomates), and is a mentor to future ABPP candidates. Dr.
Eichel is the 2009-10 Chair of the Council of Presidents of Psychology Specialty
Academies and is active in the Independent Practice Section of the Society for
Counseling Psychology (APA Division 17). He chairs the Psychology & Law
Committee of the Delaware Psychological Association and was appointed in 2008 to
the Delaware Board of Examiners of Psychologists. Dr. Eichel has written
articles on therapy, hypnosis, and cults, and has authored two book chapters; he
has presented over 150 workshops, papers and panels to local, state, regional
and national professional associations.
4:30pm to
4:45pm: Michael Langone
“Violent Extremism- Rehabilitation
Process.”
Michael D. Langone, Ph.D., a counseling psychologist, is International Cultic
Studies Association (ICSA’s) Executive Director. He was the founder editor of
Cultic Studies Journal (CSJ), the editor of CSJ’s successor, Cultic Studies
Review, and editor of Recovery from Cults. He is co-author of Cults: What
Parents Should Know and Satanism and Occult-Related Violence: What You Should
Know. Dr. Langone has spoken and written widely about cults. In 1995, he
received the Leo J. Ryan Award from the "original" Cult Awareness network and
was honored as the Albert V. Danielsen visiting Scholar at Boston University.
Founded in 1979, the International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) is a global
network of people concerned about psychological manipulation and abuse in cultic
groups, alternative movements, and other environments. ICSA is tax-exempt,
supports civil liberties, and is not affiliated with any religious or commercial
organizations. ICSA's mission is to apply research and professional perspectives
to the problems encountered by family members and former group members adversely
affected by a cultic involvement and to forewarn those who might become involved
in potentially harmful group situations.
4:45pm to 5:00pm: Alejandro J. Beutel
“Building Bridges to Strengthen
America”
Alejandro J. Beutel is Muslim Public Affairs Committee's Government Liaison.
Alejandro has authored several academic papers, articles and reports on topics
of Islam, international security, religious liberty and democratization. In
addition, Alejandro has addressed several government, academic and civil society
forums on these topics. He has also been quoted and featured in the New York
Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Boston Globe, CNN, Al-Jazeera English,
IslamOnline.net, Fox News, the Huffington Post, and MSNBC's Hardball with Chris
Matthews.
Alejandro is also most recently the author of MPAC’s new Countering Violent
Extremism and Counterradicalization policy paper “Building Bridges to Strengthen
America.” He is also the creator and manager of the "MPAC Post-9/11 Terrorism
Incident Database", which tracks and analyzes Muslim and non-Muslim violent
extremist plots against the United States since September 11, 2001. Currently a
Master's Degree candidate in Public Policy at the University of Maryland,
College Park, Alejandro received his Bachelors of Science in International
Relations and Diplomacy at Seton Hall University.