The University of Toledo is partnering with the University of Michigan for a two-day joint academic conference that confronts the issue of the role of Islam after the Arab Spring by bringing together scholars whose areas of expertise provide insight into the social and political culture in the Middle East.

More than a dozen academic presentations by leading modern Middle East specialists, as well as emerging young scholars, will be featured during “Islam in the New Middle East: Traditions, Transitions, and Trajectories” 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday, March 29 and Friday, March 30 at the University of Michigan. UT will live stream the speakers and presentations in Memorial Field House, room 1050, on Main Campus.

“The academic conference demonstrates UT’s commitment to supporting cutting edge scholarship on issues of national and international import,” said Dr. Ovamir Anjum, Imam Khattab Endowed Chair of Islamic Studies at UT. “All presenters and volunteers for the conference are enthusiastic and committed to their ongoing research.”

The conference will combine current analysis of the revolutionary uprisings in the Middle East with the long-standing scholarly conversations on the region.

In the spirit of the joint conference, keynote addresses will be held on both the University of Michigan and University of Toledo campuses.

Nathan Brown, professor of Political Science and International Affairs at Georgetown University, will give a keynote address “Islamist Movements in Post-Revolutionary Egypt,” on the University of Michigan campus at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 29 in the University Unions Hussey Room at Michigan.

On the UT campus, Juan Cole, the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate professor of History at the University of Michigan, will give the keynote address “Arab Spring to Arab Transitions” at 7 – 9 p.m. Friday, March 30 in Driscoll Auditorium, room 1019.

The conference is sponsored by UT Department of Philosophy and the Center forReligious Studies and the University of Michigan’s Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies and Islamic Studies Program.

For a complete conference schedule, visit sites.google.com/site/inmeconference.