INVITATION

The British Academy (BA), The London School of Economics' Middle East Center (LSE), and the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID) are please to invite you to a closed scholarly seminar on

New Conceptions of Culture and Civilization in Contemporary Islamist and Secular Discourses:  Linkages between Turkey and Tunisia

    

Saturday, September 3, 2016
Hotel Africa
Tunis, Tunisia
9:30am  - 4:00 pm 

 This one-day workshop, co-funded by the British Academy and the Middle East Centre of the London School of Economics, will bring together Turkish and Tunisian thinkers on the subject of culture and civilization in world politics. The event would want to question the rigid understanding of culture and civilization, which tends to pervade perceptions of their role in world affairs, and illustrate their fluidity and dynamic relationship with politics. It will aim to make a well-informed contribution to the current public debate on the role of culture and civilization in world affairs and build connections between the theoretical and practitioner spheres and between academia and the world of politics

To realise these objectives and make this contribution, the workshop will explore new ideas among Islamist and secular intellectuals in contemporary Turkey and Tunisia and enquire whether novel understandings exist of the relationship between Islam and modernity, East and West; and the role of Turkey and Tunisia in world political affairs, particularly in relation to Europe and the Middle East. It will investigate the possibility of alternative universalist understandings of culture and civilization. The event will aim to create a forum for a conversation between intellectuals from Turkey and Tunisia on these issues, with a view to encouraging cross-fertilisation of ideas and debate. It will also offer the space for debate between Islamist and secularist thinkers and facilitate understanding and bridge-building between the two.  Simultaneous translation will be provided in English and Arabic



09:30 - 10:00 Reception and Registration

                        Dr. Radwan Masmoudi, President of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy   

                        Dr. Michel Angelo Guida: Head of the Department of Political Science and International Relations (Mayis University) - Turkey

                        Mr. Sami Brahem, Researcher at the Center for Economic and Social Studies - Tunisia

                        Mr. Lotfi Hajji,  Journalist - Tunisia

  Mr. Abdul Wahid Yahyaoui, researcher on Islamic Movements - Tunisia


11:05 - 12:00 Open Discussion
12:00 - 13:30 Lunch Break

                          Dr. Menderes Cinar, university professor in Political Science (Baskent  
                         Dr. Rafik Abdessalem, President of the Center for Political and Strategic Studies - Tunisia

                         Dr. Mohamed Aziz Ben Achour, Ph.D. in the History of Islamic Civilization - Tunisia

                         Dr. Hdhili Mansar, professor of French Literature and Civilization at the University of Tunis - Tunisia

                                                              
14:30 - 15:30 Open Discussion       
15:30 - 16:00 Concluding Remarks