Thursday, April 10, 7:00 p.m., Smith Recital Hall on the SDSU Campus
"Common Chords"

"COMMON CHORDS" will feature the Pakistani rock star Salman Ahmad (guitar) and internationally renowned Indian tabla player Samir Chatterjee in concert with acclaimed klezmer ethnographer Yale Strom (and members of his band Hot Pstromi).  This concert celebrates the common roots of Muslim and Jewish music.

Salman Ahmad formed his band Junoon in the early 1990's. Since then, Junoon has become a phenomenon on the South Asian music scene and beyond, playing at the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo 2007. Ahmad has combined Sufi poetry, Qawaali singing and improvisation with rock music and has used his popularity to promote humanitarian efforts throughout the world.

Co-Sponsored by Center for Islamic and Arabic Studies, The Jewish Studies Program at SDSU, the Department of Religious Studies-Many Paths Fund, and the Cross-Cultural Center.

Thursday, March 6th at 7 p.m., Hardy Tower 140 on the SDSU Campus
Lecture on "Martyrs without Borders: The Puzzle of Foreign Suicide Bombers in Iraq" by Dr. Mohammed Hafez.

Mohammed Hafez is the author of Suicide Bombers in Iraq: The Strategy and Ideology of Martyrdom (2007); Manufacturing Human Bombs: The Making of Palestinian Suicide Bombers (2006); and Why Muslims Rebel: Repression and Resistance in the Islamic World (2003). Dr. Hafez earned a Ph.D. in international relations from the London School of Economics (LSE) and is a recipient of major research grants from the United States Institute of Peace, Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, United States Information Agency, and Department of Homeland Security. He regularly appears on the Jim Lehrer News Hour program, National Public Radio, and C-SPAN.

This lecture is cosponsored by the Fred J. Hansen Institute for Peace Studies, the International Security & Conflict Resolution Program, and the Center for Islamic & Arabic Studies.