Funding to create York University’s first Chair in Islamic studies
TORONTO, January 25, 2006 -- To meet the growing demand for courses and scholarly research on Islam, York University will establish the university’s first Chair in Islamic studies with a gift of $1 million, thanks to the generosity of Toronto’s Lakhani family.
The Chair will be called the Noor Chair in Islamic Studies in honour of the Noor Cultural Centre, founded by the Lakhani family.
“We are truly grateful to the Lakhani family for their vision with this generous gift. The Noor Chair in Islamic Studies will allow York to bring a dedicated scholar in the field of Islamic studies to our students,” says Dr. Lorna Marsden, President and Vice-Chancellor of York University.
The gift builds on an initial donation of $500,000 from the Lakhani family, who funded the Noor Fellowship in Islamic Studies, enhancing York’s offerings in Islamic studies, and strengthening future relationships between York University, the Noor Cultural Centre and Toronto’s Islamic community.
“The main survey course in Islam attracts more students every year, and in past the demand has been such that we’ve had to turn students away,” says Robert Drummond, Dean of York University’s Faculty of Arts. “This gift will help to strengthen both the existing offerings and open up new possibilities for undergraduate and graduate students to pursue the study of Islamic religion and culture, and will place York on the map in regard to the innovative and interdisciplinary study of Islam.”
The goal of the Chair is to increase cultural understanding, with a focus on Islamic religion, culture and civilization, recognizing the diversity of the Islamic world and its relationship with other religions. The first Noor Chair in Islamic Studies will be filled over the next year.
York’s largest program in the Division of Humanities, with nearly 200 majors, is its Religious Studies Program. In September of 2003-4, a new Graduate Program in Humanities admitted its first students, who are studying in one of three available fields: the comparative study of cultures, religious studies, and the cultural context of science and technology. This program makes the establishment of a new research Chair in Islamic studies even more relevant and timely.
Future collaboration between Noor and York includes a planned series of lectures and community-oriented courses, such as teaching of the Arabic alphabet and the Qur’an, as well as interfaith events intended to foster cultural exchange.
"It is a privilege to live in a country like Canada which is home to such a rich mosaic of cultures,” says Samira (Lakhani) Kanji, President of the Noor Cultural Centre. “The enhanced programming of the Noor Chair in Islamic Studies will contribute to building a stronger rapport between people of diverse faiths -- at York, at the Noor Cultural Centre and within the external community. For our family, this gift was an ideal way of promoting harmony and respect amongst people of varying cultures and philosophies, while delivering quality community outreach.”
What: Noor Chair in Islamic Studies event
When: Thursday, January 26, 2006, 5:30-7:00pm
Where: Noor Cultural Centre,123 Wynford Drive (at DVP)
Media contact:
Melissa Hughes, Media Relations, York University, 416-736-2100 x22097/mehughes@yorku.ca
-30-
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 180,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 10 faculties and 21 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges.
