For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey, 901/678-2843

The University of Memphis will host the eighth annual Muslims in Memphis Celebration opening ceremony Saturday, March 6, at 7 p.m. in the Michael D. Rose Theatre. There will be a keynote address and discussion with Richard W. Burkholder of the Gallup World Poll, followed by the Memphis premiere of the documentary film Inside Islam: What a Billion Muslims Really Think. The event is free and open to the public.

Burkholder is the director of international polling and the regional research director for the Middle East, North Africa and other predominantly Muslim countries throughout the world for the Gallup World Poll. He designed and directed the 2001-02 Gallup Poll of the Islamic World, an unprecedented public opinion survey of the both the urban and rural adult populations of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Turkey, Pakistan, Kuwait, Morocco, Jordan and Indonesia.

The film explores opinions of Muslims around the globe as revealed in the world’s first major opinion poll, conducted by Gallup. Focused on the issues of gender justice, terrorism, and democracy, Inside Islam presents data and shows how it challenges the popular notion that Muslims and the West are on a collision course. Like the research, the film highlights a shared relationship that is based on facts, not fear.

Experts featured in the film include Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies; John Esposito, professor of international affairs and Islamic studies at Georgetown University; Rami Khoury, editor of the Daily Star of Beirut; and Kenneth Pollack, director of research at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution.

Sponsors are the University of Memphis Department of History, Diversity Memphis, and Muslims in Memphis.

Reservations are encouraged and may be made online at http://memphisinsideislam.eventbrite.com

For more information, call Dr. Kent Schull at 901-678-2868.