Friday, October 19, 2007

Symposium on Science & the Muslim Civilization in Lahore

Khwrazimic Science Society (KSS), in collaboration with Iqbal Academy Pakistan, is holding a symposium on Science and the Muslim Civilization on November 4th. This event is free and open to public. If you are in Lahore or in its vicinity, you should make an effort to attend it. Here is the introduction to the symposium:

The KSS feels that there is a growing need in the country to foment debate on fundamental discourses that sufficiently overlap with our national conscience and are also of far-reaching social and intellectual verve. The tradition prevailing in our science curricula is one of insulation with social and historical traditions. As a result, there is a pressing need to broaden a wider historical perspective in most of our intellectual exercises. Recently, there has been an upsurge of literature and international debate on any relation between Islamic civilization and modern sciences, ranging from extreme positions such as “Islamization of Science” to the “Marginalization of Islam”. Religion and culture are the two values deeply engrained in our society and as these values come face to face with modern science, deep questions need to be asked. One such question is the question of history and sociology. However, these discussions are mostly limited to academic circles and are awaiting a wider appreciation inside our country. In the same spirit, the KSS feels that it is important to organize a public symposium touching upon the historical crossroads between Islam, Muslim socities and science.

George Saliba has been invited from Columbia to speak at the conference. Interestingly, he will also be coming to Hampshire in March 2008, as part of our Science & Religion lecture series at Hampshire College.

You can find full details of the Lahore symposium here.

2 comments:

Don said...

An Islamic social study of science... hmmm...

Salman Hameed said...

As you can see, I did not comment on that aspect :)

Saliba is a historian of science and as far as I know, does not subscribe to "Islamization of science" nor is involved with Islamic science studies (or other post-modern incarnations) ...

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