Date: Apr 23, 2007

Muslim Schools in America: Ghetto or Gateway?

Columbia U. professor looks at misconceptions about these centers of Islamic life

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – Misconceptions about Muslim schools in America is the subject of a lecture by Louis Cristillo, Ph. D., at Hofstra on Thursday, May 3, 2007 from 4:30-6 p.m. in the Middle Plaza Room of the Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center, north campus. The lecture is sponsored by Hofstra’s Department of Religion.

The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information please call (516) 463-5612.

More than the mosque in America, the full-time Muslim school is the most widely misunderstood institution in American Muslim communities today. Numbering about 235 in cities across the United States, Muslim schools have attracted the curiosity of the news media far more than the discerning analysis of scholars.

Dr. Cristillo, a research assistant professor of international and transcultural studies at Columbia University Teacher’s College, will explore how the full-time Muslim school has become a key player in a nexus of institutions that include the mosque, the local professional and business sector, the family, and the state to produce overlapping social networks that empower Muslim youth and adults toward greater involvement in American civic life and participatory democracy.

Dr. Cristillo is also a member of Columbia’s Middle East Institute, part of the School of International and Public Affairs, and participated in The Muslim Communities in NYC Project.

Hofstra’s Department of religion provide the tools students need to think critically and constructively about religion, to recognize the many different roles religion plays in public life and the way religions interact with and shape one another. The study of religion offers students the chance to explore a variety of human experiences that have inspired some of the world's greatest writers, artists, and thinkers.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students find their edge to succeed in more than 140 undergraduate and 155 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education and allied human services, and honors studies, as well as a School of Law. With a student-faculty ratio of 14-to-1, our professors teach small classes averaging 23 students that emphasize interaction, critical thinking and analysis. Hofstra offers a faculty whose highest priority is teaching excellence, cutting edge technology, extensive library resources, internships and special educational programs that appeal to their interests and abilities.