Contact:  Rick Peterson, Manager of News Services, 920/832-6590
For Immediate Release		                      December 22, 1998

Role of Islam in New World Order Examined in Lawrence University Lecture
Series 
	
     APPLETON, WIS. -- The recent escalation in the long-standing
hostilities with Iraq provides a topical backdrop to the upcoming Lawrence
University lecture series, "Islamic Challenges in the Post-Cold War World."
     The six-part series will explore the growing role and importance of
Islam in the emerging new world order through a variety of religious and
political perspectives.
     John Esposito, professor of religion and international affairs as well
as professor of Islamic studies at Georgetown University, opens the series
Tuesday, Jan. 5 with a pair of lectures.
     He delivers the address, "Islam and Democracy," at 4:15 p.m. and "The
Islamic Threat -- Myth or Reality?" at 7 p.m.  Both lectures, held in Main
Hall Room 109, are free and open to the public.
     A leading authority on the Islamic world and the author of more than 
a dozen books on Islamic issues, Esposito will explore the Islamic beliefs
and institutions relevant to the current debate over greater political
participation and democratization in the Muslim world.  He will discuss the
vitality of Islam as a global force and examine the often rocky history
between the Muslim and western worlds.
     Esposito is the founder and director of the Center for Muslim-Christian
Understanding:  History and Interational Affairs at Georgetown.  He is the
current editor-in-chief of "The Oxford Enclyclopedia of the Modern Islamic
World" and has served as a consultant to the U.S. Department of State.  He
holds a Ph.D. in Islamic studies and comparative religions from Temple
University.
     Other lectures in the series include:  Jan. 13, "Islam in America:
More Muslims than Episcopalians," Aminah Beverly McCloud, professor of
religious studies, DePaul University; Jan. 21, "U.S. Policy and the Middle
East:  Peace Process," Rashid Khalidi, professor of Middle East history and
director of the Center for International Studies, University of Chicago;
Feb. 2, "Contemporary Women's Issues in Islam," Marcia Hermansen, professor
of theology, Loyola University; Feb. 10, "Muslims, Jews and Christians: One
God, Many Truths?," Kathryn Kueny, assistant professor of religious studies,
Lawrence University.
     The "Islamic Challenges in the Post-Cold War World" lecture series is
sponsored by the Lt. William Kellogg Harkins Jr. Values Program and the
Mojmir Polvolny Lectureship in International Studies, which promote interest
and discussion on issues of moral significance and ethical dimensions.