Dear Friends:

On Monday, November 8 an extraordinary conference on the controversy over the downtown Muslim community center will convene at Rutgers-Newark. I’ll be moderating the first session, at 10 am, where Steve Brier, Marci Reaven, Jack Tchen and Sally Yerkovich will discuss what we can learn from their work on the history and commemoration of 9/11. Please join us for all or part of the day.–Rob Snyder

Monday, November 8—The Center for Migration and the Global City hosts
“The Rights of Memory: 9/11 and the ‘Ground-Zero Mosque’

Time: 10:30am-5:30pm

Place: Sessions 1,2 and 3: Essex West Room, Paul Robeson Campus Center
Session 4: Bove Auditorium, Engelhard Hall at Rugers-Newark

“The Rights of Memory” is a forum for a public conversation about the
social, religious, cultural, and political issues raised by the
controversy sparked by the Cordoba Initiative/Park 51 project. The
animating question of the forum is what this civic Rohrschach reveals
about our collective memory of 9/11 and the competing visions of the
society we imagine ourselves to be a decade later.

• The Stakes of Memory: Commemorating 9/11 (10:00-11:15) will focus on how we are remembering 9/11. Panelists will discuss how it has been commemorated on the street, in print and museums, on the web, and around
the site of what we commonly refer to as “ground-zero.”

•The Passion and Politics of Religious Memory (11:30-12:45) will explore the historical role that opposition to minority religions has played in the U.S., and how that history is influencing the characterization of
Islam and Muslims in the wake of 9/11.

• The Cordoba Initiative and the Muslim World (1:15-2:30) will look at how the controversy is being reported and interpreted by Muslims in the United States and globally.

• What Is To Be Done? (4:00-5:30) will bring together leaders from
multiple religious traditions for a conversation about how the mosque
controversy might generate new multi-faith initiatives that foster
cross-cultural understanding and collaboration.

For a list of panelists and more information about the forum go to
centerformigrationandtheglobalcity.blogspot.com/

Peter J. Wosh
Director, Archives/Public History Program
History Department
New York University
53 Washington Square South
Room 503
New York NY 10012
Phone: (212) 998-8601
Fax: (212) 995-4017
http://aphdigital.org
http://history.fas.nyu.edu/object/history.gradprog.archivespublichistory.html