More than 400 people gathered recently at DePaul University’s Merle Reskin Theatre, 60 E. Balbo Dr., Chicago, for an engaging panel discussion on “Islam: Image and Reality.” The speakers covered topics ranging from the United States’ policy toward Muslim countries; perceptions and fears of domestic Muslims since 9/11; and the moral, economic and political questions surrounding U.S military presence in Iraq. Excerpts from an upcoming PBS Television series “America at a Crossroads” were shown prior to the panel discussion.The program was hosted by Aminah McCloud, director of DePaul’s Islamic World Studies program.

PHOTO A

Pictured (from left to right) are: Richard Perle, a fellow of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in Washington, D.C. and former assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense; Bill Kurtis (standing), program moderator and veteran television journalist; Mahmood Mamdani, the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and director of the Institute of African Studies at Columbia University; Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al Arabi, the London-based Arabic-language daily; and Sherman Jackson, associate professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Michigan. Click here to view photo.

PHOTO B

Participants pictured (from left to right) are: Abdel Bari Atwan, a guest panelist and editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al Arabi, an Arabic-language daily newspaper based in London; Bill Kurtis, program moderator and veteran television producer; Aminah McCloud, program organizer and director of DePaul’s Islamic World Studies program; and Charles Strain, DePaul’s associate vice president for academic integrity and professor of religious studies. Click here to view photo.

PHOTO C

Pictured with three of the four panelists on the program is Aminah McCloud (second from right), director of DePaul’s Islamic World Studies program and an organizer of the event. The panelists pictured are (from left to right): Mahmood Mamdani, the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government and director of the Institute of African Studies at Columbia University; Sherman Jackson, associate professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Michigan; and Richard Perle, an American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research fellow and former assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense. Click here to view photo.

PHOTO D

Pictured with three of the four panelists on the program is Aminah McCloud (second from right), director of DePaul’s Islamic World Studies program and an organizer of the event. The panelists pictured are (from left to right): Abdel Bari Atwan, editor-in-chief of Al-Quds Al Arabi, a London-based Arabic language daily newspaper; Sherman Jackson, associate professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Michigan; and Richard Perle, an American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research fellow and former assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense. Click here to view photo.