(Posted March 13, 2006)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Sikandar Hayat, a historian from Pakistan, will be in residence at Juniata College for the spring semester starting March 13 through April 7 to organize outreach efforts and teach mini-courses to students as well as faculty -- as part of U.S. State Department's Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program: Direct Access to the Muslim World.

Hayat also will give a lecture on "Pakistan and the War on Terrorism" at 7:30 p.m., Monday, April 3, in Neff Auditorium in the von Liebig Center for Science on the Juniata campus.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

Hayat also will go out into the community to give the same lecture, "Pakistan and the War on Terrorism" before the Huntingdon Rotary Club at noon, Wednesday, March 22, at the group's meeting at the Huntingdon Country Club, and at St. Francis University in Loretto, Pa. at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 28.

Juniata is one of 28 colleges and universities nationwide to be selected for the prestigious program. Since the program's debut in 2004 more than 100 institutions have hosted specialists from one of the Muslim communities throughout the world. The program is sponsored by the state department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It was designed to enrich campus and community understanding of Muslim beliefs and customs while challenging stereotypes of Muslim societies on cultures.

"Pakistan is one of the front-line countries in the global war on terrorism," says Jack Barlow, professor of politics at Juniata. "Sikandar Hayat's visit will help us understand the way that Islam influenced the creation of Pakistan out of Britain's Indian Empire, and the way that a variety of different Islamic groups influence Pakistan's politics today."

In addition to his public lectures, Hayat will speak to area students on visits to Juniata Valley, Tyrone Area and Huntingdon Area schools. Hayat's schedule for school visits will be confirmed after he arrives in Huntingdon.

While in the United States Fulbright Specialists are expected to present lectures, short courses, team-teach in existing courses with host college faculty, speak to community groups and assist in program or curriculum development at the host college.

He will teach a course, "Politics and Islam" to Juniata students, Mondays through Thursdays at 4 p.m. through April 6. Nearly 30 students have signed up for the course. He also will teach a seminar for Juniata's faculty every Wednesday at 6 p.m. through April 5.

Hayat is a professor of history at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad, Pakistan, where he has taught and served as head of the history department since 1973. He has written two books on the history of Pakistan, "The Charismatic Leader: Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah and the Creation of Pakistan," "Aspects of the Pakistan Movement," and edited a third book, "Genesis of Pakistan Movement."

He earned a master's degree in political science in 1977 from Columbia University in New York City and went on to earn a doctorate in 1987 from Quaid-i-Azam University.

He has taught in the United States at Arkansas State University, in Jonesboro, Ark., and at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich. He has served as lecture speaker for the American Institute of Pakistan Studies in 1990, 1997 and 2003.

He is a member of a variety of professional organizations, including the American Association of Asian Studies, the Middle East Studies Association, the Association of Muslim Social Scientists and the Association of Third World Studies.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.