Muslim Footprints in Iowa: The Story of Emir Abdelkader
Speaker:
John W. Kiser
13 Nov 2012
6:00 PM
Oak Roam, Memorial Union
How did a town in northeast Iowa - Elkader - come to be named after Emir Abdelkader in 1846? Why did the Emir's exemplary life and moral leadership in war, in prison, and in exile bring him worldwide acclaim during the 19th century from Abraham Lincoln, Pope Pius the IX, Queen Victoria, Emir Shamil, and a county lawyer in Dubuque? John Kiser, the author of Commander of the Faithful . . . The Life and Times of Emir Abdelkader: A Story of True Jihad, will discuss the relevance of this warrior and scholar for today.
John Kiser is also the author of [i]Communist Entrepreneurs, Unknown Innovators in the Global Economy, Stefan Zweig: Death of a Modern Mani[/i], and [i]The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love and Terror in Algeria[/i], the latter of which won the 2006 French Siloe Prize for best book on a humanistic topic and was the basis for the 2010 Cannes award-winning film, [i]Of Gods and Men.[/i] Kiser has an M.A. from Columbia University in European History and MBA from the University of Chicago. He spent fifteen years as president of Kiser Research and working as an international technology broker before turning to research and writing.