Campus News

Rockford University is pleased to welcome Jamsheed Choksy, Ph.D. as he presents State and Faith in Iran- Recent History as a Key to Understanding the Present on Thurs., February 21 at 4 pm. In this Phi Beta Kappa lecture, Dr. Choksy will discuss how the country’s geography, natural resources, international relations, and domestic changes combined with foreign influences and interventions to produce a political system in which the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government—not dissimilar to those of the US—become subordinate to a theocratic establishment. Dr. Choksy is a U.S. Presidentially-nominated and U.S. Congressionally-confirmed Member of the National Council on the Humanities which oversees the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington, DC.

Dr. Choksy is Distinguished Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Central Eurasian Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington. His writings and lectures explore why human existence is viewed as a struggle between good and evil, and how beliefs and practices shape people’s lives and actions.

He is a leading authority on the Arab conquest of Iran, Iraq, the Persian Gulf, and Central Asia, the spread of Islam, and the impact of faith on politics, international relations, and security. He is a member of the National Council on the Humanities, and has held fellowships from the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton), National Endowment for the Humanities (Washington, DC), Guggenheim Foundation, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (Stanford), American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Religion. His many publications include Conflict and Cooperation: Zoroastrian Subalterns and Muslim Elites in Medieval Iranian Society.

There is no charge to attend, but tickets are required. Dr. Choksy’s presentation will take place in Fisher Memorial Chapel, 5050 East State Street, Rockford. Tickets can be obtained by contacting the Box Office at 815-226-4100 or boxoffice@rockford.edu.

Read more about Dr. Jamsheed Choksy here.

View the full lineup at www.Rockford.edu/forum.