The Millsaps College department of religious studies will host Dr. Johnathan Brockopp for a discussion titled "Jihad in Islamic History" on Friday, Dec. 6. The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Leggett Special Events Center on the Millsaps campus. Please note that this event has been re-scheduled!

"Recent events have unleashed a flood of opinion on the subject of Islam, much of which is not very well founded," said Dr. Steven Smith, chair of the religious studies department at Millsaps and one of the organizers of the event. "To understand the various Islamic perspectives on jihad we must understand how Muslims interpret their history. This is where Dr. Brockopp can help us."

Brockopp, a religious studies professor at Bard College in New York, earned his Ph.D. at Yale University. A specialist in Islamic law and ethics, he has published numerous articles and is the author or editor of three books, including Islamic Ethics of Life: Abortion, War, and Euthanasia, forthcoming from the University of South Carolina Press. He has actively addressed the challenge of interpreting Islam in the post-9/11 world and will preside at an American Academy of Religion session devoted to that topic in Toronto this November.

The program is free and open to the public, and a reception will immediately follow the lecture. For more information, call 974-1334.