Learn About 'Gender and Authority in Islam' Thursday

October 9, 2001

October 9, 2001, Greencastle, Ind. - This Thursday, October 11, 2001 at 1 p.m., you're invited to what promises to be an illuminating discussion of a timely topic. Visiting scholar Ingrid Mattson will present an Asian Studies Coffee Hour talk, "Gender and Authority in Islam" in Thompson Recital Hall of DePauw University's Performing Arts Center.

Ingrid Mattson is professor of Islamic Studies at the Macdonald Center for Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at the Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut. Dr. Mattson earned her Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago in 1999. Her research is focused on Islamic law and society; among her articles are studies on slavery, poverty and Islamic legal theory.

Dr. Mattson is a Canadian Muslim who studied philosophy at the University of Waterloo, Ontario (B.A. '87). In 1987-1988 she lived in Pakistan where she worked with Afghan refugee women and obtained a grant from the Canadian government to develop a training and support program for traditional midwives. During her graduate studies in Chicago, Dr. Mattson served on the board of directors of Universal School in Bridgeview, where she also taught Islamic Studies at the high school level. She gives frequent public addresses on Islamic topics to student, religious and civic groups.

Dr. Mattson teaches graduate courses which include: Introduction to Islamic Law, Islamic Ritual and Family Law, The Life of the Prophet Muhammad, Early Islamic History and The Quran and its Place in Muslim Society. She recently developed and now directs a graduate certificate program for Muslim Chaplains at Hartford Seminary.

Ingrid Mattson's DePauw speech, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by a reception.

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