Messages shown by the media today often depict Muslims in a way that shows violence, extremism and hatred — but there is more to the story and a book discussion going on through the next several months in Bainbridge will try and show that.
Bainbridge State College, as part of a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Library Association will host Bridging Cultures: Muslim Journeys in February and March.
“This grant has given us funding to have scholars lead these book discussions and we were able to get multiple copies of each book in the series so that people did not have to go out and buy them,” Susan Ralph, Bainbridge State College library director said. “This is specifically about Muslims, but hopefully we will explore a lot of other cultures too.”
The book discussion is titled, “Let’s Talk About It,” and it is open for everyone in the community to participate. The discussion on Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. in the Bainbridge State Library will center on the book “Broken Verses” by Kamila Shamsie. Another book will be featured in March on a similar topic.
Ralph said Dr. Amie Seidman, an instructor from the Early County site will be leading the discussion in February. Seidman teaches a world literature class and her students, Ralph said, were touched by reading books in the same series and “very empathetic,” to one of the characters in the book who was treated badly in America living as Muslim post 9/11 in New York City.
“People see things on the news and they see people fighting,” Ralph said, “but they don’t really realize that these (Muslims) are peaceful people and we want them to learn a little bit more about them than what is seen on the news.”
To participate in the “Lets Talk About It,” book discussion, visit the Bainbridge State College Library.