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Hector Castillo
Adjunct Instructor Emily Dibble
Humanities 1100
April 5, 2016
America and Islam: Peace and Justice in an Age of ISIS and Islamophobia.
At this period of time I just feel that I know a little about Islam; pretty much what I have
learned in class, Humanities 1100. However, at this moment thinking about the topic, America
and Islam a number of questions showed up in my mind and hopefully many of this questions
will be answered in this event. The lecture itself sounds very good, Professor Omid Safi will be
at SLCC. Dr. Safi is Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and Director of the Islamic
Studies Center at Duke University. He also is the author of a number of books,
including Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism, and Memories of
Muhammad. Now, I am very enthusiastic to listen to Safis lecture. Nonetheless, it would be
interest to separate the myths and facts concerning this particular subject by attending this
lecture. I think that I would learn many things about America and Islam by attending Dr Safis
lecture. I believed that his lecture would be interesting and that he would break down the lecture
into three main parts; History, Religion and Cultural events. In conclusion to my reflection I feel
that Dr Omid Safi will bring something new to the table and that many of us probably will be
shocked by listening to his extraordinary lecture.
For my civil engagement activity I chose to attend to the lecture America and
Islam: Peace and Justice in an Age of ISIS and Islamophobia by Dr Omid Safi that took place on

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April 4, 2016 10:00 am at Salt Lake Community College Taylorsville-Redwood campus in the
Oak room on the 2nd floor of the Student Center.
Civil engagement means to get involve with the community; learn what is going on
within the community. Volunteer to help people to accomplished their expectations or needs not
necessary monetary but by donating my time. It also mean to educate myself about history,
religions, cultural events or new things that empower the community. Civil engagement is
unselfish, the step that may help me to succeed in society and as an individual as well.
I enjoyed this activity, the setting, place and all the information that was injected in the
lecture was excellent from the beginning to the end.
I absolutely would take this lecture again it. For many reasons; for instance, Lectures
with terrific topics will help you to be more engage in the community at the same time that
people get educated about knew things. The lecture America and Islam: Peace and Justice in an
Age of ISIS and Islamophobia. Gave the spark and courage to attend more lectures to keep
educating by myself at the same time that I get engage with the society.
I have the opportunity to talk to one of the faculty members of the Salt lake Community
College. We talked about education in general. Ive learned from him that passion is more import
than money. Also, that as humans we have to be very flexible concerning to education, for many
circumstances, for example, if passion has been lost or you just dont enjoy as much as you think
you would may be it is time to change your major and pick something else. It is better to spend
extra time at college then spend the rest of your work life doing something that you no longer
enjoyed.
The lecture America and Islam: Peace and Justice in an Age of ISIS and Islamophobia is
related to the Humanities 1100 class because both address the same topic the Islam. On February

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3, 2016 we talked about the The holly Quran, Hadith, and the 10 steps to happiness. In the
lecture Professor, Dr. Safi mentioned, Thomas Jefferson studied the Holly Quran and he also
was learning Arabic It seems that Thomas Jefferson was using the Quran to put together the
new system of government. The founding brothers were influence by Islam religion. While they
were trying to put together the constitution by using a series of eighty-five essay to ratify the
constitution. So, we can argue that some part of our constitution is based upon the Quran.
Meaning that Islam religion changed the way the founding brothers were thinking at the time
they come out with the constitution in the late 1700s. Somehow, religion and government get
mix. Even if governments claims that religion and government are separate from each other, at
the end somehow they get mix.