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Salman Hameed to Talk on How Muslims View Science and Biological Evolution

Salman Hameed, the director of the Center for the Study of Science in Muslim Societies (SSiMS), will give a talk at Washington and Lee University on Tuesday, April 29, at 5:30 p.m. in Leyburn Library’s Northen Auditorium.

The title for Hameed’s talk, which is free and open to the public, is “The Crescent and the Natural World: How do Muslims view science and biological evolution?”

Hameed is also an associate professor of integrated science and humanities at Hampshire College in Massachusetts. His primary research interest focuses on understanding the reception of science in the Islamic world and how Muslims view the relationship between science and religion. He recently led a four-year National Science Foundation-funded study on the reception of biological evolution in diverse Muslim societies.

Salman also runs Irtiqa, a science and religion blog with an emphasis on scientific debates taking place in the Muslim world. His research work has been highlighted in The Economist, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Guardian, National Public Radio and Public Radio International.

He teaches “Evolution, Islam and Modernity,” “Science in the Muslim World,” “Astrobiology” and “History and Philosophy of Science and Religion” at Hampshire College.

Hameed’s current research interests include star formation in spiral galaxies, nature of small dusty galaxies in the early universe, reasons for the spread of paranormal beliefs among college students, modern Creation movements in the Islamic world and reconciliation efforts over sacred objects and places of astronomical importance (e.g. Tomanowos/Willamette meteorite and observatories at Mauna Kea).