The public is invited to attend a free World Affairs Forum Great Decisions event featuring Dr. Hossein Kamaly, Barnard College. Dr. Kamaly will speak on “The Dilemma of Sectarianism in the Middle East” at the South Norwalk Branch of the Norwalk Public Library on Oct. 19, 2015.

When discussing the historical divide between the two sects of Islam, Kamaly has contested the idea that historical divides are the cause of acts currently being carried out in the Middle East. “Shias and Sunnis have even been married,” Kamaly said. “These problems didn’t exist. They have developed due to political and financial reasons. It’s a damned ideology of killing people.”

Hossein Kamaly teaches in the Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Cultures Department (AMEC) and the Program in Comparative Literature at Barnard College, Columbia University. Trained as a historian at Columbia, he focuses on Islamic intellectual history and the broad field of Perso-Islamic studies. He is committed to close reading of classical Islamic texts in Arabic, Persian and Turkish. His book, God & Man in Tehran is forthcoming from Columbia University Press.

This event is free and open to the public. The program will begin at 7 p.m. in the Community Room of the South Norwalk Branch of the Norwalk Public Library, 10 Washington St. Norwalk, CT 06854. Refreshments prior to the presentation are courtesy of Norwalk Public Library, a co-sponsor of the program. Parking is available directly across the street from the South Norwalk Branch Library in the Webster St. Parking lot. There is also street parking in front of the Library. For more information please contact the World Affairs Forum at (203) 356-0340 or info@worldaffairsforum.org.

The World Affairs Forum is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to expanding understanding of global affairs and America’s role in the world. The Forum is an affiliate of the World Affairs Councils of America.