Dr. Charlotte Allen, an award-winning journalist based in Washington, D.C., will speak about “The Symbolic Transformation of the Islamic Headscarf” at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5, as part of the Politics, Law & Economics Lecture Series presented by The Center for Free Enterprise at Florida Southern College. The talk will be held in Room 112 of FSC’s Becker Business Building, and is free and open to all students, faculty, and the public.
Dr. Allen’s lecture will explore the sense of proud religious and ethnic identity that increasingly is symbolized by the headscarves and other garments worn by Muslim women in the West and elsewhere. What is behind this change in the symbolic importance of Islamic headscarves, formerly seen as representations of male misogyny, and what might it mean in connection with the West’s centuries-long marginalization of its own religious traditions?
Perhaps best-known for her writings in The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, The Atlantic, and other national publications, Dr. Allen is also the author of The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus (1998). She has a B.A. from Stanford University, an M.A. from Harvard University, a law degree from the University of Southern California, and a doctorate in medieval and Byzantine studies from The Catholic University of America.
Dr. Antony W. Dnes, director of the Center for Free Enterprise, urges all who can to attend. “We are honored to host such a distinguished speaker. Dr. Allen brings her expertise to bear on a difficult and important topic.”
The final talk in the Fall 2019 Lecture Series, “Is Bitcoin a Bubble?,” will be presented by Dr. William Luther of Florida Atlantic University on Tuesday, Dec. 3.
About Florida Southern College
Founded in 1883, Florida Southern College is the oldest private college in Florida. The College maintains its commitment to academic excellence through 70+ undergraduate programs and distinctive graduate programs in business administration, education, nursing, and physical therapy. Florida Southern has a 14:1 student-to-faculty ratio; is an award-winning national leader in engaged learning; and boasts 30 NCAA Division II national championships. It is ranked among the top 10 Regional Universities in the South by U.S. News and World Report; and is included in The Princeton Review’s 385 Best Colleges, The Fiske Guide to Colleges 2018, and Forbes magazine’s America’s Top Colleges Guide. The College is committed to the development of the whole student through vibrant student life programs that prepare graduates to make a positive, consequential impact on society. FSC is conveniently located within an hour’s drive of both Orlando and Tampa. FSC is home to the world’s largest single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2012. Named the “Most Beautiful Campus in the Nation” for two consecutive years by The Princeton Review and one of the nation’s “Ten College Campuses with the Best Architecture” by Architectural Digest, Florida Southern is an internationally-recognized place of beauty and academic excellence.