Bruce Lawrence Honored as Carnegie Scholar
Duke Professor Bruce Lawrence has been named one of 20 new Carnegie Scholars for his compelling ideas and commitment to enriching the quality of the public dialogue on Islam, the Carnegie Corporation of New York announced on April 4.
Lawrence is the Nancy and Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Professor of Religion at Duke and director of the Duke Islamic Center. His books include "The Qur'an - A Biography and Messages to the World: The Statements of Osama bin Laden."
The award comes with a $100,000 two-year fellowship. With the fellowship, Lawrence plans to undertake a study of how religious minorities are treated in Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
In his project proposal for the fellowship, Lawrence wrote that his research aims to "throw welcome light on the dynamics that compel ideologues to claim religion as the major explanation for both policies and actions that, in fact, have little to do with religious beliefs or practices."