BMDG is an Indiana University Student Club.

     

    The BMDG Coffee Hour is a program which aims to gather people at the end of a long week and spend good time together. We will try to have a guest speaker on every program and there will be a talk at the beginning of our program for 30 to 60 minutes. After that we will have some refreshments and free chat.

     Past Coffee Hours.

  • Sufism
    Learning witha Sufi Master.
    A Talk by Dr.Fances Trix
    April 22, 2004

    Dr. Frances Trix is a linguistic anthropologist specializing in discourse analysis of face-to-face interaction. She has degrees in Near Eastern Languages & Literature (BA, MA) and in Linguistics (MA), as well as a PhD in Linguistics, all from the University of Michigan.

    Her research has focused on transmission of spiritual knowledge, oral tradition, and language reform in Muslim communities in the United States, and Muslim communities in the Balkans. She is the author of Spiritual Discourse: Learning with an Islamic Master (University of Pennsylvania, 1993), which is based on over twenty years study with Baba Rexhep, an Albanian Bektashi Baba, in his community. Currently she is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Wayne State University in Detroit.

     
  • How to achieve inner peace.
    Coffee Hour, a panel discussion.
    April 14, 2004
    Click for pictures and more information
  • Why and How we should thank God?
    Student Panel
    Thursday, March 4, 2004
  • A Journey To Microcosmos
    February 12, 2004
    MICROCOSMOS Documentary showing.
     
  • Muslim-Christian relations in the Middle East
    January 23 2004
    Prof.Iliya Harik & Dr.Zaineb Istrabadi
     

    

  • Jesus in Islam
    Saturday December 6 2003
    A talk by Dr.Zeki Saritoprak

    • Zeki Saritoprak, holds a PhD in Islamic Theology from the University of Marmara, Turkey. He earned his Master's degree in Islamic Theology and Philosophy, and his Bachelor's in Divinity from the same university. He also attended Al-Azhar University in Cairo for several years for Arabic language studies while researching for his dissertation. In addition, he has taught at Harran University in Turkey.

    He is the Founder and President of Rumi Forum for Interfaith Dialogue in Washington. Currently, he is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Religious Studies at John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio.

    The subjects on which he has taught have included the Science of Kalam, Sufism, the Qur'an and Hadith, Islamic Sects, contemporary Islamic movements, and Islam in America. Additionally, Dr. Saritoprak is the author of several books and articles on Islamic Studies in Turkish, Arabic, and English.

    Pictures from the Coffee Hour.

  • Fasting and Ramadan
    Thursday November6 2003
    A talk by Dr.Yamina Mermer
     
  • The God of Truth and Mercy
    Friday October 24
    A talk by Eli Kaufman.
     
  • The Meaning of Prayer, Student Panel
    October 2 2003
     
  • Challenges That We Face After September 11
    Friday September 12 2003
    A  talk by Rev. Rebecca Jimenez.
    • Rev. Jimenez talked about the effects of the 9/11 and led a discussion on the topic.
    Rev.Rebecca Jimenez is the Campus Minister of the Center for University Ministry at IU. She has been at the Center since July 1999. A native of Indiana, she has lived in Mexico and Puerto Rico, and has relocated to Bloomington from New Jersey, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts from William Paterson University and a Master of Divinity from The Theological School of Drew University. Since her ordination by the American Baptist Churches/USA in 1996, Rebecca Jimenez has served as Campus Minister at Saint Peter's College, a Jesuit institution in Jersey City, and as Interim Associate at her home church, Emmanuel Baptist, Ridgewood, NJ. Her interests include process, feminist and liberation theologies, Latin America, women's issues, and the "search for God in all things.
     
  • Nostra Aetate: a Doorway into Dialogue?
    Friday June 27 2003
    A talk by Father Dan Atkins.
     
    • Father Dan Atkins is a Catholic friend of and participant in the Bloomington Muslim Dialog Group. He is the pastor of St. Paul Catholic Center, the Catholic student center for Indiana University. A high school teacher for twelve years, Fr. Dan earned a Master of Science in Education from Indiana University before entering the St. Meinrad School of Theology, receiving a Master of Divinity, and being ordained in 1987.

    The title of Father Dan's talk will be "Nostra Aetate: a Doorway into
    Dialogue?"

    Father Dan will lead a discussion about the possibilities and the challenges posed by "Nostra Aetate", which is a document set forth by the Roman Catholic Church during the 1960s.

    Here is a brief description about "Nostra Aetate":

    Between the years of 1962-1965 leaders of the Roman Catholic Church met in council to discuss how it might better serve the will of God and humanity. The sessions of Vatican II created sweeping changes in how the Church understood its identity and its role in the world, especially its relationship to other religions. In one of the last documents of the council, "Nostra Aetate" (In our age...), the bishops set forth their vision of how Catholics might relate to people of other religions.
  • 'Reason' in the Islamic System of  Belief
    Friday June 13, 2003
    A talk by Professor Adel Mekraz
     
    • Professor Adel Mekraz,  who is one of the active members  of the Bloomington Muslim  community. Professor Mekraz has an MS degree from  Houston Baptist University. He worked in  the  retail industry for over 12 years holding various store management  positions. After leaving the retail  industry, he worked as a consultant for  small retail businesses and as adjunct faculty for the University of  Houston Downtown. At the moment he is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design, at Indiana University. He is also  the  faculty advisor for SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) team, which won a regional championship and Rookie of The Year awards at a competition in the  spring of 2001.
     
  • Difference, Fundamentalism, and Dialogue: An Ethics of Hospitality Friday May 30, 2003
    A talk by Pastor Kyle Wiersma  Halverson

    Pastor Kyle Wiersma  Halverson is from Lutheran Campus Ministry of Bloomington.
    Pastor Halverson is  originally from Minnesota. He holds an MA degree in Hebrew Bible from Yale  Divinity School, a Masters of Divinity from Luther Seminary in St. Paul,  Minnesota, and has begun doctoral work in theology at Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. He and his wife Jan moved from Chicago to Indiana in  1990.
     
  • Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) Message to Humanity,
    Friday May 16th, 2003    .
    A talk by Salih Yucel

    Salih Yucel     is a Muslim Chaplain at Brigham Hospital at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

    In memory of the birth of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), BMDG dedicated this coffee hour to commemorate his life and the message he brought.

    Click here for pictures from the night.
     
  • East-West Encounters,
    April  18th, 2003
    A talk by Dr.Zaineb Istrabadi

    Dr. Istrabadi     is a dear friend and an active supporter of interfaith dialog efforts  and our group. Ms. Istrabadi is a lecturer in the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures Department, and the Associate Director and Outreach Coordinator of the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Program. She is an Iraqi-American, and holds a Ph.D. in Arabic language and Islamic Studies.

 

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