Hospitality conference draws strong participation in Bangkok
Date posted: May 5, 2014
BANGKOK
A two-day conference on hospitality in Anatolian and Asian cultures recently held in Bangkok saw lively engagement by 200 participants including scholars, community and religious leaders, NGO representatives, students, journalists and artists from 20 countries.
A resolution issued at the end of the conference stressed that in a context of worldwide suffering caused by conflicts rooted in ignorance, xenophobia, disunity, greed and poverty, the participants had sought to present the theme of hospitality as a universal cultural value that encourages openness to everyone.
Speaking at the conference, Professor Sophia Pandya from California University said that Anatolians provide the best example of hospitality toward all comers irrespective of race, religion or language. Pandya added that the Hizmet movement, which originated in Anatolia and is inspired by well-respected Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, tries to find solutions to many problems in the world with a similar approach.
The problem is that there is a Turkey based on a single identity whose conservative/right-wing tone is more apparent rather than a pluralist vision.
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Sophia Pandya on Hizmet Movement
Dr. Sophia Pandya specializes in women, religion, and globalization. She received her BA from UC Berkeley in Near Eastern Studies/Arabic, and her MA and PhD from UCSB in Religious Studies, with a focus on women and Islam. She co-edited the book titled The GulenHizmet Movement and its Transnational Activities: Case Studies of Altruistic Activism in Contemporary Islam.
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