Description:

Every year more and more Europeans, including Germans, are embracing Islam. It is estimated that there are now up to one hundred thousand German converts—a number similar to that in France and the UK. What stands out about recent conversions is that they take place at a time when Islam is increasingly seen as contrary to European values. Professor Özyürek will explore how Germans come to Islam within this antagonistic climate, how they manage to balance their love for Islam with their society’s fear of it, how they relate to immigrant Muslims, and how they shape debates about race, religion, and belonging in today’s Europe.

Esra Özyürek is an Associate Professor and Chair of Contemporary Turkish Studies at the European Institute at the London School of Economics (LSE). She is the author of Being German, Becoming Muslim: Race, Religion and Conversion in the New Europe (2014) and Nostalgia for the Modern: State Secularism and Everyday Politics in Turkey (2007) and the editor of Politics of Public Memory in Turkey (2007).

This event is part of the Monday Night MENA series, a partnership between Northwestern's MENA Program and Evanston Public Library aimed at improving the public's understanding of the MENA region and allowing space for questions and discussion. Monday Night MENA events are free of charge and open to the public.

Registration is not required, but helps us plan our seating. You may register with the Evanston Public Library online or by calling the Reference Desk at 847-448-8630.