Tonight, Dec. 9, at 6 p.m., Joshua D. Hendrick, visiting assistant professor of international studies at the University of Oregon, will address the Gülen Movement and its role in the tension between Turkey’s secular and Islamic forces. The movement, started by controversial religious personality Fethullah Gülen, has attracted attention because of its expansive global education network, including approximately 100 charter schools in the United States, such as the Harmony Science Academy in Houston. The schools are characterized by high academic success rates and the faculty’s moderate brand of Islam.
Y. Alp Aslandogan, president of the Institute of Interfaith Dialogue and one of the movement’s leading intellectuals, will offer a response to Hendrick’s analysis.
– RSVP here to attend tonight’s event.
– Read more about the Gülen Movement in Texas Monthly articles “Head of the Class” (PDF) and “Lesson Learned” (PDF), written by William Martin, the Baker Institute’s Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy.