Imam Antepli to Take on New University-Wide Role
Imam Abdullah Antepli, who has served as the founding director of the university's Center for Muslim Life and Duke's first-ever Muslim chaplain since 2008, will take on a new position as the university's Chief Representative for Muslim Affairs/Muslim Chaplain.
"This appointment is an important commitment to Muslim affairs and interfaith leadership," said Laurie Patton, Dean of Arts & Sciences at Duke. "Imam Abdullah is a well-known public intellectual and American Muslim religious leader, and he provides constructive Muslim perspective to the university's already significant strength in discussions of faith, spirituality, social justice, peace and reconciliation, and religious and cultural dialogue."
In his new role, Antepli will organize and facilitate workshops, panels and conferences on issues of bridge-building, cross-religious and cross-cultural conversation. In addition, his previous responsibilities as associate director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center will now include expanding the Transcultural Islam Research Network to address major issues in Muslim domains of Africa and Asia.
"I am deeply honored and humbled by Duke University's continuing vote of trust, and I am very excited about this new expanded role," Antepli said. "I look forward to proudly raising our flag higher in this new capacity."
A regular contributor to the Huffington Post and Washington Post, Antepli has been engaged in national and international initiatives aimed at religious peace building, interfaith work and faith-based diplomacy. He is currently involved in U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's peace initiatives in the Middle East.
In 2010, he served on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Religion and Foreign Policy Team with the goal of bringing religious context into foreign policy considerations. He also has been working with State Department's Special Representative to Muslim Communities, the White House's Special Envoy to Muslim Majority Societies, the Pentagon, the Turkish Embassy, Vatican Mission and several other embassies on various issues related to Islam and Muslims.
Antepli will continue to teach courses on Islam in both the Divinity School and Trinity College of Arts of Sciences. He has previously taught such courses as "Common Themes in the Bible and Qur'an," "American Islam" and "Listening Together: Christians and Muslims Reading Scriptures."
He also will continue to advise Muslim students at Duke and work with the Dean of the Chapel on campus-wide spiritual and religious matters. The Office of Student Affairs will soon open a nationwide search for a new director of the Center for Muslim Life.
Prior to coming to Duke, Antepli was the Associate Director of Islamic Chaplaincy Program & Interfaith Relations at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Conn. He is the founder and executive board member of the Muslim Chaplains Association and the Association of Campus Muslim Chaplains.