“Islam, Toleration, and The Future of Europe”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 21, 2007

MEDIA CONTACT:
Ashley Hopkins
Office of College Communications
978.867.4569

WENHAM, MA-Dr. James Kennedy, a professor of contemporary history at the Free University of Amsterdam, will speak at Gordon College on the topic of "Islam, Toleration, and the Future of Europe."  Kennedy, a historian of contemporary Dutch society, has written on and studied toleration in Dutch society, particularly around controversial issues like euthanasia, prostitution, and legalized drug use, but in more recent years he has focused on the impact the growing Islam population has made in the Netherlands.

"Recent events in the Netherlands and across Europe have revealed tensions between indigenous European populations and rapidly growing Muslim minorities," says Thomas Albert Howard, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Jerusalem & Athens Forum at Gordon. "While at Gordon, Dr. Kennedy will address this tension as it applies to the situation in the Netherlands, but will also reflect on the realities of a growing Muslim population in all of Europe." 

James C. Kennedy is a Professor of Contemporary History at the Free University of Amsterdam. Prior to that, Kennedy was Associate Professor of History and Research Fellow at the A.C. Van Raalte Institute at Hope College. Dr. Kennedy has lived in the Netherlands, is fluent in the Dutch language and has also authored many books covering Dutch society in the 1960s and on euthanasia debates in the Netherlands. Two additional books entitled The Future of Conservative Protestantism in the Netherlands (Boekencentrum) and A Concise History of the Netherlands (Cambridge University Press) are soon to be released.

What/When: Islam, Toleration, And The Future Of Europe on Monday, March 26th at 4:30 p.m.

Where: Presidents Dining Room, Lane Student Center at Gordon College, 255 Grapevine Rd., Wenham, MA

Dr. Kennedy's visit is part of The Faith Seeking Understanding Lecture Series made possible by the Lilly Endowment initiative at Gordon College. This event is free and open to the public.

For further information, contact Sarah Carlson-Lier, Program Coordinator for the Jerusalem Athens Forum at 978.867.4227 or email your questions to [email protected].

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Gordon College is a Christian college of the liberal arts and sciences on Boston's North Shore. The college offers majors in 36 fields and has graduate programs in education and music education. Leading the way in Christian college merit, Gordon is nationally ranked for its excellence in academics and its role in character building. These achievements recognize Gordon as one of the nation's top Christian colleges.

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