Democracy and the Revolt in the Muslim World

On Friday, April 29, at 4 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium, the Campbell Public Affairs Institute’s State of Democracy Series will welcome Juan Cole, Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan and author of “Engaging the Muslim World” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). Following Cole’s talk on “Democracy and the Revolt in the Muslim World,” he will be joined by Amy Kallander, professor of history, and Miriam Elman, professor of political science, before turning to Q&A with the audience. The event will be streamed live starting at 4 p.m.

For three decades, Professor Cole has sought to put the relationship of the West and the Muslim world in historical context. He has commented extensively on al-Qaeda and the Taliban, the Iraq War, the politics of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Iranian domestic struggles and foreign affairs. He has a regular column at Truthdig. He continues to study and write about contemporary Islamic movements, whether mainstream or radical, whether Sunni and Salafi or Shi`ite. Cole commands Arabic, Persian and Urdu and reads some Turkish, knows both Middle Eastern and South Asian Islam. He lived in various parts of the Muslim world for nearly 10 years and continues to travel widely there.