Denise A. Spellberg, a professor
of history at The University of
Texas at Austin, headlined the
annual Interdisciplinary Islamic
Studies Seminar Symposium on
Thursday where she discussed
Thomas Jefferson’s connection
with Islam.
Spellberg opened the address
to an audience of 20 faculty and
graduate students in the Michigan
League
by
explaining
that
Jefferson knew more about Islam
than most of his contemporaries.
She said he went out of his way
to study the faith and meet its
practitioners.
“As a historian of the American
founders and their interest in
Islam and Muslims, and as one
who teaches Islamic studies, I
think the precedence of Thomas
Jefferson
remains
important,
because
he
once
imagined
Muslims here in the U.S.,” she
said.
She went on to say the few
scholarly books that consider
Jefferson’s involvement in the
Muslim
world
emphasize
a
“dominant negative paradigm.”
She said such books emphasize
“Muslim” and “American” are
terms most often placed in binary
opposition as the eternal “them”
and “us.”
Spellberg’s work focuses on
challenging such a dichotomy
and is documented in her book
“Thomas
Jefferson’s
Qur’an:
Islam and the Founders.”
At the address, she discussed
how the ideas of Islam influenced
the
United
States’
founders
and subsequently transformed
“imagined” Muslims — a group
considered outsiders in the 18th
century — into exemplars of the
United States’ ideals of religious
pluralism and civil rights.
“Thomas
Jefferson
in
particular was a visionary — a
man who planned for a nation
that included Muslims as future
citizens,
despite
sometimes
simultaneously
expressing
negative views of Islam,” she
said. “The ideal of their future
presence and shared American
spaces — this imagined future,
while notional — contains key
elements of what today might be
considered an aspect of American
exceptionalism.”
Such
exceptionalism,
she
explained, refers to the precedent
that anyone of any religion might
reside in the United States with
citizenship
and
equal
rights
— ideals that she believes are
attacked under President Donald
Trump’s administration.
In light of this statement, the
symposium in general focused
on the effect of the Trump
administration on Islamic studies
and was inspired by solidarity
movements such as Black Lives
Matter, the response to the
Building on the strength
and national and international
recognition of the University
of
Michigan’s
Mobility
Transformation
Center
and
Mcity, the entirity of automated
vehicle testing has officially
been branded Mcity.
The Mobility Transformation
Center launched in 2013 as
a public-private partnership
between
government
and
industry to expand research
on driverless cars. The MTC
introduced Mcity in July 2015,
as the world’s first testing
ground for advanced mobility
vehicles and technology.
Mcity
quickly
gained
worldwide name recognition,
which motivated the University
to consider changing the name
of the entire center. In an
email interview, Susan Carney,
the director of marketing and
communications
for
Mcity,
highlighted the importance of
capitalizing on this growing
recognition.
“We wanted to build on
that strength,” Carney wrote.
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Friday, April 14, 2017
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 67
©2017 The Michigan Daily
N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
See MCITY, Page 3
MTC now
rebranded
under the
name Mcity
RESEARCH
Mobility Transportation
Center will take on the
more recognized brand
SOPHIE SHERRY
Daily News Editor
Islamic Studies symposium keynote
address features UT Austin professor
Denise A. Spellberg discussed Thomas Jefferson’s involvement with Muslim world
JENNIFER MEER
Daily Staff Reporter
michigandaily.com
For more stories and coverage, visit
See KEYNOTE, Page 3
Legend, a 7-year-old collie,
makes his way into C.S. Mott
Children’s Hospital for his
afternoon shift. By his side are
his owner and Jared Wadley,
the senior public relations
representative
at
Michigan
News. The two are a part of
Therapaws of Michigan, an
organization
that
provides
therapeutic and educational
canine visits to the Washtenaw
County area.
Wadley began volunteering
about seven years ago with his
now-retired therapy dog Bella.
Bella was a frequent visitor
at the University of Michigan
Cardiovascular
Center
for
about six and a half years. Now
Wadley and Legend can be
found at Mott.
While the process to become
a certified therapy dog is
extensive, Legend seemed to
have some of the necessary
characteristics instilled within
him. Wadley noted Legend’s
personality made him a good
fit to be a therapy dog.
“He’s just a friendly dog,”
See DOGS, Page 3
Volunteer
Therapaws
dog brings
joy to U-M
HOSPITAL
Dog brought to Michigan
Medicine proves to be
therapeutic for patients
KENNEDY WERNER
Daily Staff Reporter
As
part
of
the
closing
ceremonies for the SHARE
vigil, a 24-hour event hosted
by the Students for Holocaust
Awareness, Remembrance and
Education, students read names
of people who died during the
Holocaust and heard from five
Holocaust survivors.
The survivors attended the
closing ceremonies Thursday
night at University of Michigan
Hillel to tell their stories, talk
to students and share music
they sang during the Holocaust.
SHARE hosted this ceremony,
following the reading of names
out of a book in front of the
Espresso
Royale
on
South
University Avenue, as one of its
annual events.
The students who attended
the event noted how valuable
it is to hear survivors’ stories,
which is the motivation for
many of the events SHARE
plans. For LSA sophomore Lilah
Kalfus, member of the SHARE
board,
this
sentiment
rang
especially true, as both of her
grandparents were Holocaust
survivors.
“We’re
one
of
the
last
generations to be able to talk
to survivors, so we are just
trying to provide as many
opportunities to do that, like
my kids won’t be able to talk to
a Holocaust survivor,” Kalfus
said.
LSA sophomore Kyla Klein,
a member of Hillel, echoed
this
sentiment,
emphasizing
how important these types of
conversations are in the current
political climate.
“My whole life I’ve been very
interested in the Holocaust
and just how it happened
exactly,” Klein said. “I think
it’s really cool to gain this
type of perspective; especially
with what’s happening in the
world right now, it’s important
to
recognize
systematic
oppression and genocide and
the Holocaust.”
LSA
senior
Eitan
Katz,
who was a board member
24-hour vigil
highlights
significance
of Holocaust
Native American students share
uncertainty over bicentennial exhibits
See VIGIL, Page 3
DESIGN BY MICHELLE PHILLIPS
CAMPUS LIFE
Held at Hillel, the ceremonies completed
the day-long read of victims of the tragedy
ERIN DOHERTY
Daily Staff Reporter
The community, making up less than one percent of the University, reflect on inclusion
Some
Native
American
students are elated by a recent
exhibit
that
aims
to
bring
awareness to the role Native
Americans had in the founding
of the University of Michigan
but overall there is an underlying
concern about the ways the
University
is
representing
Native Americans during its
bicentennial celebrations.
The
“Native
Americans:
Michigan’s Foundation” exhibit,
which is one of seven pop-
up
art
installations
named
“Stumbling
Blocks”
seeking
to bring awareness to some of
the difficult moments of the
University’s history, has led
Native American students to
point to some of the issues
with representing the Native
American identity on campus.
On Ingalls Mall, one of these
“Stumbling
Block”
exhibits,
a raised plaque, highlights a
sizably
smaller,
permanent
plaque that already exists in the
ground nearby to commemorate
a gift of land from three
Native American tribes to the
University in 1817.
For Native American student
Kaitlin Gant, an LSA senior,
one of her biggest concerns was
the lack of dedication given to
other equally significant effects
Native Americans have had on
the history of the University.
“While I think it made a
profound impact and drew more
attention to the importance of
Native American contributions
to the campus, a sign is where the
attention stopped,” Gant said.
Gant discussed the how the
plaque came about as a result
of Native American student
activism on campus and protests
led by Native students in the
early 2000s advocating for the
removal and University support
of a student organization that
historically had openly mocked
and ridiculed Native American
culture. The organization, then
called Michigamua, reportedly
appropriated Native American
culture, going so far as using
DYLAN LACROIX
Daily Staff Reporter
See BICENTENNIAL, Page 3
JEREMY MITNICK/Daily
University of Texas at Austin Professor Denise Spellberg gives the keynote speech about Thomas Jefferson’s connection with Islam as part of the
Interdisciplinary Islamic Studies Seminar Symposium on Thursday.