Kaufman in the News
Class Potluck for Muslim Students
April 25, 2016
Dr. Kelly James Clark, GVSU, and his class held a potluck for GVSU’s Muslim students on April 21, 2016. About 30 Muslim students attended. According to Clark, it was the single most powerful educational time he ever had in his life. The night’s student-organized potluck included great conversations around the table and then a program of readings and videos. Kilike Steyn read her HuffPost blog, and then they showed the counter narrative videos that the teams produced. You can find them here.
The videos are the culmination of a semester’s reflection on the causes of both Islamophobia and radicalization. They are psychologically and philosophically sophisticated and informed. Clark was blown away with their creativity, insight and power.
So were the Muslim students. After the presentation, they expressed their gratitude and then stayed for over an hour talking with our students. They were so impressed and pleased and moved. It was amazing.
The potluck wasn’t an odd add-on to the class. The class learned that the best way to overcome Islamophobia is to meet Muslims. While the students read a lot about Muslims, most of them had never met one. That night, for the first time for most of them, they had significant conversations with Muslims. And they learned that the best way to prevent radicalization is to make Muslims feel like they are part of the majority community. They did their best to do that. In short, they DID what they learned.
The videos are shared on Facebook, Kelly Clark will write a HuffPost blog about them, and soon they’ll find their way around the world. One was put up the day of the event and was already been shared in Turkey the day after. Clark suspects that it will make its way around the world by the end of the week.