2009 Press Releases
Islam in Ireland
22.10.2009
Islam has become one of the fastest growing religions in Ireland and the third largest religious community. At University College Cork (UCC), a pioneering research project is currently underway which will investigate the development and place of Islam in Ireland.
22.10.2009
Islam has become one of the fastest growing religions in Ireland and the third largest religious community. At University College Cork (UCC), a pioneering research project is currently underway which will investigate the development and place of Islam in Ireland.
This research project will make a unique contribution to understanding the rapid changes in Irish society and its cultural, ethnic and religious diversity.
The public launch of the project will take place on Tuesday, October 27th at 7pm, UCC (Boole Lecture Theatre 3). Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin TD, will attend the launch and give an address.
Immediately following the launch, Professor Peter Antes, Professor in the Study of Religions at the University of Hannover (Germany) will give a guest lecture on the topic: “Islam in Europe – New Perspectives for the Study of Religions”. Professor Antes is a leading, internationally known scholar in the Study of Religions who has worked on current debates in Islamic ethics and on the diversity of religions and religious communities in contemporary Europe. All are welcome and admission is free.
The research project is funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) and the Department of An Taoiseach and based in the Study of Religions Department at UCC. The aim of this project is to provide an in-depth survey of the Muslim community in Ireland, its establishment and historical development, its various organisations and mosques and its current and future place in Irish society. The principal investigator of the project, Dr Oliver Scharbrodt, will collaborate with three researchers in the course of this three-year project. Dr Adil Khan will look at various mosques run by Muslims from Pakistan. Dr Vivian Ibrahim, a historian from the University of London, will search for traces of Muslim presence in Ireland before World War II. Dr Yafa Shanneik will investigate the activities of various Muslim women groups in Ireland. None of these issues have ever been explored before, making this project groundbreaking and original.
The project is hosted by the new Study of Religions Department at UCC, established in 2007. It is the first and only of this kind in Ireland and fosters an academic, non-confessional and non-theological approach to the study of religions. A variety of religions are studied in the department without giving priority to any. Its staff members have expertise of a range of very different religious traditions. This subject is open to a diverse student body interested in the academic study of religions, regardless of personal religious views. At the moment, more than 200 students are enrolled in the undergraduate programme and plans are underway for postgraduate teaching and research in the near future.
For further information on the project and the new Study of Religions Department at UCC see: http://www.ucc.ie/en/studyofreligions/
Picture: Professor Peter Antes
1187MMcS
The public launch of the project will take place on Tuesday, October 27th at 7pm, UCC (Boole Lecture Theatre 3). Minister for Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martin TD, will attend the launch and give an address.
Immediately following the launch, Professor Peter Antes, Professor in the Study of Religions at the University of Hannover (Germany) will give a guest lecture on the topic: “Islam in Europe – New Perspectives for the Study of Religions”. Professor Antes is a leading, internationally known scholar in the Study of Religions who has worked on current debates in Islamic ethics and on the diversity of religions and religious communities in contemporary Europe. All are welcome and admission is free.
The research project is funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) and the Department of An Taoiseach and based in the Study of Religions Department at UCC. The aim of this project is to provide an in-depth survey of the Muslim community in Ireland, its establishment and historical development, its various organisations and mosques and its current and future place in Irish society. The principal investigator of the project, Dr Oliver Scharbrodt, will collaborate with three researchers in the course of this three-year project. Dr Adil Khan will look at various mosques run by Muslims from Pakistan. Dr Vivian Ibrahim, a historian from the University of London, will search for traces of Muslim presence in Ireland before World War II. Dr Yafa Shanneik will investigate the activities of various Muslim women groups in Ireland. None of these issues have ever been explored before, making this project groundbreaking and original.
The project is hosted by the new Study of Religions Department at UCC, established in 2007. It is the first and only of this kind in Ireland and fosters an academic, non-confessional and non-theological approach to the study of religions. A variety of religions are studied in the department without giving priority to any. Its staff members have expertise of a range of very different religious traditions. This subject is open to a diverse student body interested in the academic study of religions, regardless of personal religious views. At the moment, more than 200 students are enrolled in the undergraduate programme and plans are underway for postgraduate teaching and research in the near future.
For further information on the project and the new Study of Religions Department at UCC see: http://www.ucc.ie/en/studyofreligions/
Picture: Professor Peter Antes
1187MMcS