Experts talk Islam at last week’s panel discussion

Fear – not hatred – is what drives Islamophobia.

That was Ellen Amster’s message last week at a special panel discussion on Islam in North America.

Amster, the Hannah Chair in the History of Medicine, joined Virginia Aksan, professor emeritus of History, Liyakat Takim, the Sharjah Chair in Global Islam, PhD candidate Ateeka Khan and Wilfrid Laurier’s Jasmin Zine at the session, titled Islam in North America: History and Contemporary Manifestations.

“Many Muslim migrants mirrored their beliefs to social activity and renegotiated their Muslim identity in Western society,” said Khan, in a talk about the history of Islam in the Americas. “We need to understand more about our identities as Muslim Canadians.”