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ISLAM AND MUSLIM SOCIETIES: AN ANALYTICAL EXAMINATION

On April 8th and 9th, 2011, Harvard University is hosting a conference titled Islam and Muslim Societies: An Analytical Examination. This conference will cover a variety of themes including Islamic beliefs and financial markets, political participation and competition in modern Islam, conflict in the Muslim world, and Islam and institutional change.

This event will feature scholars of the Muslim world from a variety of disciplines all of whom share a commitment to analytically-oriented scholarship of Muslim societies and their institutions.

For more information, please contact Nirvana Abou-Gabal at nirvana_abou-gabal@hks.harvard.edu

• Conference Schedule
• Logistics
• Funding for Graduate Students

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Conference Schedule

FRIDAY APRIL 8, 2011*
2:30PM	Opening Remarks
3:00PM - 4:30PM	States and Rulers Session Chair: Timur Kuran Eric Chaney – The Feudal Revolution and Europe's Rise: Institutional Divergence in the Christian and Muslim Worlds before 1500 CE Erik Meyersson - Turkish Tigers and Political Change
4:40PM - 6:15PM	Growth and Institutions Session Chair: Eric Chaney Amaney Jamal - The Rationalization of Political Support for Semi-Democratic Arab States Stelios Michalopoulos - Trade and Geography in the Economic Origins of Islam
6:45PM	Dinner (by invitation)
SATURDAY APRIL 9, 2011
8:30AM - 10:00AM	Islamic Beliefs and Financial Markets Session Chair: Mahmoud El-Gamal Moazzam Farooq - Of Religion and Redemption: Evidence from Default on Islamic Loans Thomas B. Pepinsky - The Demand for Islamic Banking: Piety, Class, and Global Identity
10:15AM - 11:45AM	Endogenous Beliefs Session Chair: Murat Iyigun Tahir Andrabi - In Aid We Trust:  Hearts and Minds and the Pakistan Earthquake of 2005 Jean-Paul Carvalho - Veiling
12:00PM - 1:00PM	Lunch
1:00PM - 3:15PM	Violence and Conflict Session Chair: Lisa Blaydes Jacob Shapiro - Democratic Values and Support for Militancy: Evidence from a National Survey of Pakistan Saumitra Jha - Veterans and Ethnic Cleansing in the Partition of India Steven Fish - Islam and Large-Scale Political Violence: Is there a connection?
3:30PM - 5:00PM	Political Participation and Competition Session Chair: Tarek Masoud Melani Cammett - Partisan Activism and Access to Welfare in Lebanon Daniele Paserman - The Struggle for Palestinian Hearts and Minds: Violence and Public Opinion in the Second Intifada
5:30PM	Adjournment
* Dubai Initiative Conference on Friday Morning All 'Islam and Muslim Societies' attendees are invited to attend two morning sessions and a lunch sponsored by the Dubai Initiative. Attendees may sit in on the following sessions at the Charles Hotel:
10:00 - 11:00 am	Opening Session/Keynote Addresses Nick Burns, Dean Ellwood and Anwar Gargash (UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs)
11:15am - 12:30pm	Political Transformation in the Arab World: Economics, Democracy, and Change Tamim Al-Barghouti, Amaney Jamal, Tarek Masoud, Helga Tawil Souri
12:30 - 2:00pm	Lunch

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Logistics

Harvard University will cover the travel and lodging expenses of all conference presenters. Please follow the instructions below for booking your flights and hotel room:

Travel:

You should book your plane tickets through Harvard Travel.  Please call 617-496-8000 and inform them of your preferred travel dates and times. When you call, please reference meeting number HVDBOS83 before making the reservation.

Harvard University will pay for flights up to the limits below:

• Participants from the West Coast: $700
• Participants from the East Coast, Midwest, Rocky Mountain and Southern states: $500
• Participants from outside the United States: $1,500

Please book your flights as soon as possible to ensure that you are able to find tickets within the above mentioned price range.  If you are unable to find a ticket within these price guidelines, please contact Nirvana (nirvana_abou-gabal@hks.harvard.edu).

We can only pay for economy-class travel.

Hotels:

Conference presenters will be staying at the Best Western Hotel Tria, located at 220 Alewife Brook Parkway, Cambridge, MA 02138 (www.hoteltria.com).

We have negotiated a rate of $135 per night (plus 14.45% tax charge).You must make your reservations before March 2^nd in order to secure this rate. Harvard University is unable to pay for higher room costs due to a delay in making reservations.

To make reservations, please contact Nirvana (nirvana_abou-gabal@hks.harvard.edu) as soon as possible to let her know if you will need a hotel room during your stay in Cambridge, and the number of nights you will require.

Taxis:

In order to be reimbursed for the cost of traveling by taxi, please mail original receipts to the following address after the conference:

Nirvana Abou-Gabal
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Box 46
Cambridge, MA 02138

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Funding for Graduate Students

A limited amount of travel funding is available for post-doctorate and graduate students working within the social sciences on Islamic, Middle Eastern and South-Asian themes who are interested in attending this conference.

Graduate students interested in applying should contact Nirvana Abou-Gabal (nirvana_abou-gabal@hks.harvard.edu) for additional information.