1st International Conference

June 11-12, 1999

Panel I: Deconstructing Cairo in the 11th Century

Chair:
Samy Swayd, Religious Studies, San Diego State University (SDSU)

Papers:
1. Writing Signs of the Fatimid State
Irene Bierman, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) 

2. The Religious Milieu in Fatimid Cairo
Marlis Saleh, University of Chicago Library 

3. Another Family of Fatimid Chief Qadis: the Al-Fariqis
Paul Walker, a historian of Islamic thought with a special interest in the Fatimids

4. Kirmani and the Druzes
Isma'il Poonawala, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

 

Panel II: History & Historiography: Perceptions & Misconceptions

Chair:
Hassan Alamuddine, California State University, Long Beach

Papers:
1. Deconstructing Druzism: Druzes vs. Darazis
Samy Swayd, Religious Studies, San Diego State University (SDSU) 

2. Research on the Druzes since Silvestre de Sacy
Kais Firro, Middle Eastern History, University of Haifa 

3. Sir Richard F. Burton's Perception of the Druzes
Kathi Henry, Fuller Theological Seminary and The Huntington Library

4. Al-Hakim in Modern Literature
Nezar Andary, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

 

Panel III: Reform,Tradition, and Theology

Chair:
Irving Alan Sparks, San Diego State University (SDSU)

Papers:
1. Social and Religious Reform: Al-Amir al-Sayyid al-Tanukhi
Shaykh Sami Abi Elmona, Director of the 'Irfan schools in Simkanieh, El Shouf, Lebanon 

2. Writing and Teaching Druze Tradition
Fayiz Azzam, University of Haifa 

3. Reason ('Aql): Druzes vs. Mu'tazila
Hussam Timani, Islamic Studies, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) 

4. The Act of Creation" and "the Scientific vs. the Druze View
Marwan Masri, an MD at the Rizq Hospital, Lebanon

Panel IV: Community and Society

Chair:
Ajaj Andary, American Druze Society (ADS)

Papers:
1. Reincarnation: Divided Selves and Reintegrations
Anne Bennett, University of Arizona 

2. The Druze Wedding Song Repertoire and Cultural Identity
Kathleen Hood, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) 

3. Rituals among the Druzes
Intisar Azzam, American University of Beirut 

 

Panel V: Identity, Solidarity, and Nationality, Part I

Chair:
Nadim Kassem, American Druze Foundation (ADF)

Papers:
1. The Construction of Lebanese Identities
As'ad Abu Khalil, California State University, Stanislaus and the University of California, Berkeley 

2. Survival and Political Leadership at an Interface Periphery: The Druzes in Lebanon
Thomas Scheffler, Free University of Berlin (FUB)

3. Crisis and Memory: The Case of the Lebanese Druzes
Bernadette Schenk, Free University of Berlin (FUB)

4. The Palestine Druzes: Search for Solidarity and Alliance Formation in Israel
Renee Worringer, University of Chicago

 

Panel VI: Identity, Solidarity, and Nationality, Part II

Chair:
Rabih Aridi, Amnesty International

Papers:
1. Druze Identity in Israel
Kais Firro, Middle Eastern History, University of Haifa

2. Contesting Space: The Druzes and the State in Syria
Birgit Schaebler, Harvard

3. Contesting Resources: The Golan Heights Struggle
Mary E. Morris, co-founder of Morris & Morris consulting firm

4. Syrian Arabs or Druze? The Struggle Over Identity in the Golan Heights
Bashar Tarabieh, Temple University in Philadelphia

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