Seminary hosts CNN producer to present Muslim perspective on role of faith in identity formation by Maria Ebrahimji among a panel of Muslim women who will share experiences at seminar on Nov. 11
By George Fox University
PORTLAND, Ore. – A Muslim perspective on the role of faith in identity formation will be the topic of a George Fox Evangelical Seminary seminar on Friday, Nov. 11, at the seminary’s Portland Center location.
Maria Ebrahimji, executive editorial producer for CNN and the director of CNN’s booking department, will share her perspective as a Muslim woman working for a major news agency in the United States. The presentation runs from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 155 at the Portland Center near Tigard, located at 12753 S.W. 68th Ave., in Portland.
The event, titled “Who Am I? Who Are You? A Muslim Perspective on the Role of Faith in Identity Formation,” is the latest installment of the Oregon seminary’s Ministry in Contemporary Culture Seminar series and seeks to find shared experiences between the two different faiths. The cost is $30 for individual registration, $25 for groups of two or more, and $20 for alumni or students. An optional lunch will be made available for $10 per person.
Registration is available at seminars.georgefox.edu.
Joining Ebrahimji are three Oregon Muslim women: Fatemeh Fakhraie, Muna Idow and Manar Alattar. Together they will present three sessions: “Personal Faith Journeys” (9 a.m.), “Perceptions of People of Faith” (10 a.m.) and “Faith and Conversion” (11 a.m.). The event tagline is “Our self-perception is to a large extent shaped by our core convictions … the effects of which can lay hidden for a lifetime.”
As the director of network booking and executive editorial producer for CNN, Ebrahimji manages a team responsible for guest coverage and story planning for all of the network’s special events and breaking news programming. She is a member of the South Asian Journalists Association and Southern Center for International Studies, and serves on the board of the Emory Development Institute. She is the editor of I Speak for Myself: American Women on Being Muslim, in which 40 American women under the age of 40 share their experiences of their lives as Muslim women in America.
Fakhraie contributed to the book I Speak of Myself and is the founder of Muslimah Media Watch, an online forum for Muslim women to discuss how their images appear in media and popular culture. She is an emerging voice in the Muslim feminist perspective.
In her role as the manager for the City of Portland’s Community Education and Peace Building programs, Idow is experienced in facilitating difficult conversations. Originally from Somalia, Idow settled in the Pacific Northwest as a refugee 14 years ago. She is the recipient of the 2006 International Peace and Understanding Award from the Washington Education Network and the 2006 Excellence in Leadership Award from One America.
Alattar is a graduate student at Portland State University, where she is past president of the Muslim Student Association. Born to a Palestinian father and a Baptist mother, Alattar’s unique perspective is informed by family heritage containing both Islam and Christianity.
More information about the seminar is available by contacting Jean Oehm Miller at 503-554-6150.
George Fox Evangelical Seminary offers a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) degree in leadership and spiritual formation, global missional leadership, and semiotics and future studies. Also offered is a Master of Divinity degree and Master of Arts degrees in theological studies, spiritual formation and ministry leadership. Students also may earn a certificate in spiritual formation and discipleship.
George Fox University is ranked by Forbes and Kiplinger’s among the top Christian colleges in the country and is a Christian university classified by U.S. News & World Report as a first tier regional university and a “Best Value” school. More than 3,500 students attend classes on the university’s campus in Newberg, Ore., and at teaching centers in Portland, Salem, and Redmond, Ore., and Boise, Idaho. George Fox offers bachelor’s degrees in more than 40 majors, degree-completion programs for working adults, five seminary degrees, and 11 master’s and doctoral degrees.
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