World class speakers will gather and discuss the pressing relevant issues concerning youth identity, development, civic engagement and peace building.
Keynote Speaker
H.E. Professor Dato Dr. Koutoub Moustapha Sano is the Minister in the Presidency, and the Diplomatic Advisor to The President of the Republic of Guinea since 2016. H.E. completed his PhD in Laws, Comparative Jurisprudence with Honors at the International Islamic University Malaysia in 1996. H.E has also served as the Minister of International Cooperation and African Integration, Republic of Guinea 2011-2016, and as Minister of Religious Affairs, Republic of Guinea 2009-2010. H.E. Professor Dato Dr. Koutoub Moustapha Sano is also the Secretary General of the International Academy for the Islamic Jurisprudence, OIC. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Talha Köse is the chair and an Associate Professor of Political Science at Ibn Haldun University. Dr. Köse completed his doctoral studies at the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution (SCAR)-George Mason University in January 2010. Köse worked as a visiting professor at George Mason University and University Maastricht (Netherlands). Köse is an expert in peace processes, Alevi identity and non-coercive approaches in Turkish Foreign Policy. Köse worked as a foreign policy and security analyst at the SETA Foundation, which is the leading think tank in Turkey. Köse also worked as the research director of the Washington DC branch of the SETA Foundation. Köse's TV comments on foreign policy and regional security and op-eds appear frequently in Turkish and International media.
Farid Hafez is currently Senior Researcher at University of Salzburg and Senior Research Fellow at Georgetown University’s The Bridge Initiative. In 2017, he was Fulbright visiting professor at University of California, Berkeley and in 2014, he was visiting scholar at Columbia University, New York. Since 2010, Hafez has been editor of the Islamophobia Studies Yearbook, and since 2015 co-editor of the annual European Islamophobia Report. He has received the Bruno Kreisky Award for the political book of the year, for his anthology Islamophobia in Austria (co-ed. with John Bunzl) and published more than 100 books and articles, including in high-ranking academic journals.
Rushain Abbasi is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations at Harvard University. He is currently completing a dissertation entitled, “Genealogies of the Secular in Premodern Islam,” in which he argues for the centrality of a uniquely Islamic conception of the secular to premodern Muslim analyses of subjects as significant and diverse as politics and prophethood. He has published articles on related topics in the Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies and Studia Islamica. He is also currently at work on another book project, “Islam and the Immanent Turn,” in which he revises the current historiography surrounding the question of secularization in the Ottoman empire by tracing the origins of this development back to the late sixteenth century, following the end of the Islamic Millennium.
Heba Raouf Ezzat completed her Ph.D. in Political Theory at Cairo University in 2007; and continue working on comparative political theory, changing maps of citizenship and urban sociology. Heba Ezzat taught or worked as research fellow and visiting fellow at Oxford University, American University in Cairo, University of Berkeley, University of Westminster, the UNU/Maastricht. She also served on the editorial board of the Oxford Encyclopaedia for Islam and Women of Oxford University Press. She recently serves as the member of the board of advisors of the 6 years program ‘Legitimacy in Global Governance’ at the University of Stockholm-Sweden, which is recently awarded funding by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Fund. Heba Ezzat published numerous articles in English and in Arabic; and worked at various civil society forums. In May 2017, she joined Department of Political Science and International Relations at Ibn Haldun University.
Nursem Keskin Aksay received her Ph.D with the highest degree from Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies, Freie Universitat Political and Social Sciences Department, where she has been awarded by DFG (German Research Foundation) PhD research grant for five years. In Koç University, she worked as teaching and research assistant for Sociology, Anthropology and History courses. During her doctoral research, she has been giving lectures on gender, class, anthropology of Islam, anthropology of city and secularism in Freie University, Humboldt University and European University Viadrina. In 2015 and 2016, as a Research Fellow at Üsküdar University Postcolonial Studies Research Center (PAMER), she worked for the coordination of research projects.
Starting her doctoral studies at the same department in 2014, she earned her PhD Degree in 2018 with her dissertation titled “The ’Social Benefit’ Approach of Secular and Faith-Based Non-Governmental Organizations in Turkey: Case Studies of the Association for Supporting Contemporary Life and Turkish Youth and Education Service Foundation”. Altun is the Chairman of the Executive Board of Turkish Youth and Education Service Foundation (TÜRGEV) as well as a member of the Executive Board of Turkish Airlines (THY) and Women and Democracy Foundation (KADEM). She has an excellent command of English and a good command of Arabic and Ottoman Turkish. She is married and has four children.
Riza Tevfik Kalyoncu was graduated from Uludag University Theology Faculty and studied at Radboud university. He took an MA degree in Islamic philosophy with a thesis titled "ibn Khaldun's theory of interpretation". He is currently a Ph.D. candidate for Islamic Philosophy at Medeniyet University with a thesis on “Al- Farabi's critique of theology. He published several articles and reviews on major Islamic thinkers Ibn Khaldun, Razi, Ghazali, Farabi, and Biruni.
He works as a full-time research assistant at Ibn Haldun University philosophy department.
Noorihsan Mohamad is an Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics & Management Sciences, International Islamic University Malaysia. He completed his PhD of Economics from the University of Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Noorihsan specializes in industrial economics and applied economics. He has also undertaken consulting activities and training programmes locally and internationally, advising the government on strategy and master plan as well as private firms on the impact and institutional strategies. At the international level, Dr. Noorihsan serves as the Peer Review Team member for ABEST21 accreditation body based in Tokyo and actively involves in the Asia Business Leader Programme in collaboration with Kyoto University as an invited instructor.
Talip Kucukcan is a Professor of Sociology at Marmara University in Istanbul and Former Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office on Combating Intolerance and Discrimination against Muslims (2014 – 2015). He was Head of the Turkish Delegation to and the Deputy President of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (2015-2018). Mr. Kucukcan has a BA from Uludag University (1986) and received an MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (1990). Kucukcan completed his PhD in Ethnic Relations at the University of Warwick (1997) and worked as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations at the same University between 1997 and 1999. Before moving to Marmara University where he became a full professor, he was a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islamic Studies in Istanbul until 2007. He served as a Senior Advisor to the President of Higher Education Council of Turkey between 2009 and 2013.
Dr. Selman Salim KESGIN is head of the Turkish Red Crescent Humanitarian Research Team. He has
completed Ph.D. in 2017 at Gazi University with his dissertation on international migration policy.
Previously he has worked as research fellow at Gazi University and Oxford University. His articles appear on migration studies, humanitarianism, and public policy at several international media outlets such as Anadolu Agency Analysis, Ru'ye, and 1868.
Ihssane Benalluch is a Moroccan Content Creator and Travel Vlogger on YouTube and Journalist. She was selected as 1 of the 100 Arab Youth Pioneers in The World Government Summit in DUBAI 2018. Ihssane is an IVLP Alumni with The US Embassy, in 2019 she was a challenge activator in #AnatomyOfAction Campaign with UN Environment and UN Schools. She was a part of the humanitarian project "Niger Republic Eye Camp" With Pious Projects Organization, She was also a part in #WeAreCommitted Campaign with Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week and #OneWord Campaign with the United Nations.
Dr. Abdalla is a Professor Emeritus at the United Nations-mandated University for Peace (UPEACE) with main campus in Costa Rica. He is also the Senior Advisor on Conflict Resolution at the Washington-based organization KARAMAH (Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights). From 2014 to 2017 he was the Senior Advisor on Policy Analysis and Research at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) of Addis Ababa University. In 2013-2014, he was Vice President of SALAM Institute for Peace and Justice in Washington, D.C. From 2004-2013 he was Professor, Dean and Vice Rector at UPEACE. Prior to that, he was a Senior Fellow with the Peace Operations Policy Program, School of Public Policy, at George Mason University, Virginia. He was also a Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Leesburg, Virginia.
Dr. Nagihan Haliloğlu is the Head of Department of Comparative Literature in Ibn Haldun University. After her undergraduate studies at Boğaziçi University, Dr. Haliloğlu completed two MA degrees: first in English Literature at Middlebury College, and then in Oriental Studies at Oxford University. She continued her studies at Heidelberg University where she wrote a Ph.D. thesis on Jean Rhys entitled ‘Narrating from the Margins’, which was published by Rodopi in 2011. Since then she has published articles and book chapters on memory, modernism, travel writing and contemporary Turkish literature. She has taught courses on the multicultural novel, orientalism, and Shakespeare. She has also held workshops on memory in Nabokov, Joyce’s Ulysses, women’s writing and travel writing. Her current project is on contemporary narratives of melancholy. She has also been teaching at the Ibn Haldun University’s Alliance of Civilizations Institute since 2011. She regularly contributes reviews to Daily Sabah. Her pieces have also appeared in weblogs such as The Millions, Royal Society for Asian Affairs and Full Stop.
Nabeel Odeh is a political researcher and an opinionist. He works at TRT as a Senior Producer. His works are interested in global affairs, foreign policy analysis, and digital politics. He is a regular TV commentator and lecturer. He is a Ph.D. Candidate in International Relations at Kadir Has University. His study seeks to unmask the relationship between digital activism and identity formation among the Arab young influencer. he is a regular contributor with different think tanks in the region such as Al Sharq Strategic Center, the Middle East Studies Center (MESK), Al Jazeera Study Center, and the Egyptian Institute for Studies.
Kayabaşı, Ulubatlı Hasan Caddesi No:2, 34494 Başakşehir/İstanbul, Turkey.
Phone: (+90)212-6920212
Email: info.imif@ihu.edu.tr
Phone: (+90)212-6920212
Email: info.imif@ihu.edu.tr
