By IINA,
Wisconsin : The University of Wisconsin-Madison is planning a 12-month radio program and a website to highlight the multi-faceted nature of Islam and the diversity of the Muslim world, reported the university’s students newspaper The Cardinal Daily. “The whole project is to create a democratic and polyphonic voice about Islam,” said Steve Smith, associate director of UW Global Studies Center. Under a grant of more than $ 90,000 to UW’s eight Title VI National Resource Centers and Middle Eastern Studies, the project aims to highlight the multi-faceted nature of Islam and the diversity of the Muslim world. It allows the production of eight to ten one-hour, call-in radio shows on issues such as “Islam and Music”, “Women and Islam,” and “the diversity of Muslim communities allover the world”.
The shows, which will go live as of next academic year and will feature American and foreign Muslim scholars, will be followed by a real-time chat. The website, insideislam.wisc.edu, which will go live early next semester, will also feature broader debates and public interaction about Islam. Founded in 1848, UW is the largest university in the state with a total enrollment of more than 41,000 students. The project is part of a broader initiative to increase public awareness about Islam and Muslims. “The goal is that people will learn about the multi-faceted nature of Islam and the diversity of the Muslim world, not just the same kind of things over and over again about the conflict in the Middle East but a more holistic view of Islam in the world,” said Tom Asher of the national Social Science Research Council (SSRC), which funds the project. “We are really trying to push academics for working on the subject of Islam to be a part of the broader conversation taking place in the society right now and within the US.
Nine other universities received SSRC funding to support similar projects on Islam, including Harvard University, University of California-Berkeley, University of California-Los Angeles and University of Minnesota. “Students will be integral because students really are sort of the experts,” said Asher. The radio shows, expected to draw 400,000 listeners, will help clear misconceptions about the Islamic faith, said Asher. “I hope that [UW-Madison] will be able to reach out to people living in the surrounding areas of the state and really start a conversation that needs to take place.”
Anti-Muslim sentiments have been on the rise since the 9/11 attacks on the US, largely over the distorted description of Muslims in the Western media. The UN Human Rights Council passed last month a resolution deploring the use of the media to blemish the image of Islam.
A recent British study accused the media and film industry of perpetuating Islamophobia and prejudice by demonizing Muslims and Arabs as violent, dangerous and threatening people.
And Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the president of the US largest Jewish movement, has accused US media and politicians of demonizing Islam and portraying Muslims as “satanic figures.”