It will jointly be organized by Washington-based Rumi Forum and Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.

The conference will take place at Copley Formal Lounge at Georgetown University. The parallel sessions will take place at Philodemic room , Room 208, in Healy Building. There will be 8 panels on each day, total of 16 panels.

Conference Venue: Georgetown University Main Campus

Address: 37th and O Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20057 Phone: (202) 687-0100

Opening reception will be on November 13, (place and time to be anounced) and Prof. Seyyed Hossein Nasr will deliver a keynote speech.

Conference committe do not provide invitation letters for the audience. Please do not insist for an invitation letter..

If you are planning to attend the conference, please fill out the registration form.

For more information send an e-mail to coordinator@gulenconference.us.

We look forward to seeing you at the conference.

Friday, November 14th

Plenary Session: Copley Formal Lounge

9:00 AM - 9:05 AM: Opening Remarks by Dr. Ali Yurtsever, President, Rumi Forum & Coordinator of the Conference

9:05 AM- 9:30 AM: Welcoming Remarks by Dr. John Esposito, Chair, Alwaleed bin Talal

Center for Muslim Christian Understanding at Georgetown University

Session I: 9:30 – 11:00 AM (November 14th)

I - Plenary Session: Copley Formal Lounge

Topic: Gulen's Philosophy in Comparative Perspective
Chair: Sally Ann Baynard, Georgetown University, Washington DC

Participants:

• John C. Haughey, Georgetown University, DC: The Driver in the Mind of Fethullah Gulen
• Paul Weller, University of Derby, UK: Religious Freedom in the Baptist Vision and in Fethullah Gülen: Resources for Muslims and Christians.
• Mahmud Maşaeli, Saint Paul University, Canada: The Importance of Dialogue in a Rooted Conception of Cosmopolitanism Fethullah Gülen, Mohammad Modjtaid Shabestary and Charles Taylor

Session II : 11:15 AM – 12:45 PM (November 14th)

II A - Panel A: Copley Formal Lounge

Topic: Reinterpreting the Islamic Tradition
Chair: Katherine Marshall, Georgetown University, Washington DC

Participants:

• Philipp Bruckmayr, University of Vienna, Austria: Fethullah Gülen and Islamic Literary Tradition
• Ismail Acar, Harvard University, MA: A Classic Scholar with a Modern Outlook: Fethullah Gülen and His Legal Thoughts
• Erkan Togoslu, EHESS, France: Hizmet: From futuwwa tradition to the Emergence of Movement in Public Space

II B - Panel B: Philodemic Room

Topic: Approaching Social Movement
Chair: George M. Atkinson, Southern Methodist University, Texas

Participants:

• Andrew Achenbaum, University of Houston, TX: Serendipitous Consequences of the Turko-Islamic Gulen Movement
• Mustafa Gürbüz, University of Connecticut, CT: From Gandhi to Gulen: The Habitus of Non-Agressive Action
• Ian Williams, Birmingham City University, UK: "The Significance of the Fethullah Gulen Movement as a Global Educational and Inter-Religious Model of Social and Religious Change – A UK Perspective"

Session III : 2:15 PM- 3:45 PM (November 14th)

III A - Panel A: Copley Formal Lounge

Topic: Contextual Analysis of the Rise of the Movement
Chair: Sidney Griffith, Catholic University of America, Washington DC

Participants:

• Mustafa Akyol, Turkish Daily News, Turkiye: The Context of the Gulen Movement: The Exceptional Story of Turkish Islam
• Loye Ashton, Tougaloo College, TX: The Gülen Movement: A Contextual Analysis of Its Supporters and Critics
• Muhammed Çetin, Institute of Interfaith Dialogue, TX: Reductionist Approaches to the Rise and Aims of the Gülen Movement

III B - Panel B: Philodemic Room

Topic: Dialogue: The Art of Living Together
Chair: Talip Kucukcan, Marmara University, Turkiye

Participants:

• Greg Barton, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia: Islam and Dialogue: The Gülen Movement in Australia and the Development of A Different Kind of Young Turk
• Gary D. Bouma, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia: Increases in Religious Diversity, the Revitalisation of Religion and the Gulen Movement
• Aaron Tyler, St. Mary's University, TX: Tolerance as a Source of Peace: Gulen and the Islamic Conceptualization of Tolerance

Session IV : 4:00 PM- 5:30 PM (November 14th)

IV A - Panel A: Copley Formal Lounge

Topic: The Impact of the Gulen Movement: I
Chair: Mohammed Abu Nimer, American University & USIP, Washington DC

Participants:

• Nader Hashemi, University of Denver, CO: How Islam is Promoting Liberal Democracy in Turkey: Reflections on the Fethullah Gulen Movement
• Radwan Ziadeh, Harvard University, MA: The Impact of Fethullah Gülen on the Islamic thought in the Arab world
• Ihsan Yilmaz, Fatih University, Turkiye: Beyond Post-Islamism: A Critical Analysis of the Turkish Islamism's Transformation toward Fethullah Gülen's Stateless Cosmopolitan Islam

IV B - Panel B: Philodemic Room

Topic: Solutions to Violence: Dialogue and Beyond
Chair: Victoria Clement, Western Carolina University, NC

Participants:

• Jon Pahl, Lutheran Seminary, Philadelphia, PA: Dying for a Cause: Youth, Violence and the Gulen Movement--Beyond Tolerance and Dialogue
• Zeynep Sahin, USC, CA: Interfaith Dialogue Organizations as Actors of Peace Building
• Steve Wright, SAGE-Leeds Metropolitan University, UK: Ending Terror - By Words Alone?

Saturday, November 15th

Session V : 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM

V - Plenary Session: Copley Formal Lounge

Topic: Spirituality and Sufism
Chair: Daniel Madigan, Georgetown University, Washington DC

Participants:

• John Borelli, Georgetown University, DC: Interreligious Dialogue as A Spiritual Practice
• Heon Choul Kim, Temple University, PA: Gülen's Dialogic Sufism: A Constructional and Constructive Factor of Dialogue
• Lynn Mitchell, University of Houston, TX: M. Fethullah Gulen: A Preacher of Piety and Integrity of Action

Session VI : 10:45 AM - 12:30 PM (November 15th)

VI A - Panel A: Copley Formal Lounge

Topic: Perspectives on Women's Rights
Chair: Sylvia Onder, Georgetown University, Washington DC

Participants:

• Patrick Hallzon, Stockholm University , Sweden: Gulen Movement: Gender and Practice
• Gulsum Gurbuz Kucuksari, Hartford Seminary, CT: Unresolved Concerns of Women in Modern Age: How Does the Gulen Movement Contribute to the Women Question?
• Margaret J Rausch, University of Kansas, KS: Progress Through Piety: Sohbetler (Spiritual Gatherings) of the Women Participants of the Gulen Movement
• M. Sait Yavuz, University of Maryland College Park, MD: Women in Islam: Muslim Perspectives and Fethullah Gulen

VI B - Panel B: Philodemic Room

Topic: Peace Building through Education
Chair: Janaan Hashim, Amal Law Group, Illinois

Participants:

• Harun Akyol, University of Essex, UK: An Alternative Approach to Preventing Ethnic Conflict: The Role of the Gulen's Schools in Strengthening the Delicate Relations Between Turkey and the Iraqi Kurds with Particular Reference to the "Kirkuk Crisis"
• Mehmet Kalyoncu, Independent Analyst, NY: Gulen Schools in East Africa: "The Secular Alternative in Kenya, and a Pragmatist Approach to Development in Uganda"
• Phillis Robinson, University of Houston Clea Lake, TX: Education: Sustainable Economy for Global Peace

Session VII : 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM (November 15th)

VII A - Panel A: Copley Formal Lounge

Topic: Combatting a Global Problem: Poverty
Chair: John Borelli, Georgetown University, Washington DC

Participants:

• Ozguc Orhan, Fatih University, Turkiye: Islamic Himma and Christian Charity
• Doğan Koç, University of Texas, Dallas, TX: Charity Activities of the Gulen Movement: "Kimse Yok mu?" Foundation
• Thomas Michel, Georgetown University, DC: Kimse Yok mu: the Gülen Community's Fight Against Poverty

VII B - Panel B: Philodemic Room

Topic: The Impact of the Gulen Movement: II
Chair: Mohamed Nimer, American University, Washington DC

Participants:

• Karen Fontenot, Southeastern Louisiana University, Louisiana: Fethullah Gulen as A Transformational Leader: Exemplar for A New Generation
• Martha Ann Kirk, University of Incarnate Word, San Antonio, TX: Seeds of Peace: Solidarity, Aid, and Education Shared by the Gülen Movement in Eastern Turkey

Session VIII : 3:15 PM - 4:45 PM (November 15th)

VIII - Plenary Session: Copley Formal Lounge

Topic: Globalization: Challenges and Opportunities
Chair: Wilhelmus Valkenberg, Loyola College, Maryland

Participants:

• Simon Robinson, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK: Fethullah Gülen and Global Responsibility
• Karina Korostelina, George Mason University, VA: Redefining "Us" and "Them": Gulen's approach to transformation of perceptions between Muslims and non-Muslims
• Jerome Maryon, NY: Globalization's Challenge to Justice and Gulen's Answer: Two Wings

Session IX : 5:00 PM – 5.30 PM (November 15th)

VIII - Plenary Session: Copley Formal Lounge

Topic: Closing Remarks, Evaluation of the Conference
Chair: Thomas Michel

Participants:

• All Audience

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