FRIDAY, December 4, 2009

12:00 - 5:00

Picking up participants from the airport & Hotel check-in

5:00 - 6:15

Registration at USC Radisson

6:15 - 6:45

Reception (Invitation Only), USC Radisson Grand Ballroom

6:45 - 9:00

Opening Dinner (Invitation Only), featuring a keynote by Reza Aslan, USC Radisson Grand Ballroom

SUNDAY, December 6, 2009

Session IV: Educational Activities

9:00 - 10:30

The Education of a Gülen Movement Young Man: A Study of Significant Educative Themes by Samuel Henry

Dialogue Between Jesuit and Gülen Educational & Spiritual Foundations by Patrick Howell

Gülen-Inspired Schools in Australia and their Funding by Çemen Polat

The Role of Education in Kosovo – The Contribution of the Gülen Movement by Jeton Mehmeti

10:30 - 10:45

COFFEE BREAK

Session V: Philosophical Insights

10:45 - 12:15

Virtues, Spirituality and Public Life: the Contribution of Fethullah Gülen by Simon Robinson

Fethullah Gülen & Alasdair MacIntyre: Virtue and Religion in Modern Life by Daniel Skubik

Humanism in Islam and East Asia: Gülen’s Vision in Dialogue with East Asian Religious Cultures by Heon Kim

The Practical Wisdom of a Sufi in this Day-Age by Nazif Muhtaroğlu

12:15 - 1:25

Luncheon

Session VI: Turkish Politics and Culture

1:25 - 2:45

Peeling Back the Oppositional Onion: Understanding the Gülen Movement’s Critiques in Their Political, Economic and Ideological Contexts by Loye Ashton

Turkey's Secularism and the Gülen Movement by Kathleen Moore

Toward a Solution to Turkey’s Kurdish Question: the Role of the Zaman Newspaper by Zeynep Şahin and Fatma Durak

An Attempt at Understanding the Gülen Movement’s Vision of Itself: The Key Concepts of the Movement by Özgür Koca

2:45 - 3:15

Conference Evaluation and Closing Remarks

SATURDAY, December 5, 2009

8:00 - 8:45

Registration at USC Davidson Conference Center

8:50 - 9:00

Conference Opening

Session I: Dialogue: East and West

9:00 - 10:30

Love and Truth in Democratic Societies: Fethullah Gülen and Pope Benedict XVI on Social Questions by Thomas Michel

The Impact of Pacifica Institute's Intercultural Dialogue Trips by Nancy Gallagher

Forgiveness in Islamic Jurisprudence and Its Role in Intercommunal Relations by Russell Powell

Multiple Affiliations & Participation in the Gülen Movement and the Implications of the Movement by Muhammed Çetin

10:30 - 10:45

COFFEE BREAK

Session II: Spiritual and Structural Dimensions

10:45 - 12:15

The Characteristics and Appeal of the Hizmet Movement by Karen and Michael Fontenot

Movement Functionality versus Organizational Structure by Jerald Whitehouse

The Gülen Movement as “Network of Faith-based Service Communities” in the Dialogue between Muslim and Christian Religious Traditions by Pim Valkenberg

Pilgrimage in Body and Spirit:  Placing Fethullah Gulen’s Reflections on the Hajj in Perspective by Juan Campo

12:15 - 1:25

Luncheon

Session III: Women Perspectives

1:25 - 2:45

Framing Women’s Issues in The Fountain Magazine by Fran Hassencahl

Gender and Leadership in the Gülen Movement: Women Followers’ Contributions to East-West Encounters by Margaret Rausch

Using the Gülen Movement to Broaden Discussions in the West Concerning Muslim Women by April Najjaj

Creating Peace on Earth through Hicret: Female Gülen Followers in America by Sophia Pandya

2:45 - 3:00

COFFEE BREAK

Sightseeing & Dinner Programs

4:00 - 8:00

Travel through scenic Malibu and Hors d'oeuvre reception at Pepperdine University (Invitation only)