Houghton Islamic Studies Partners with Lilias Trotter Center

This Monday, Islamic Studies professors Benjamin Hegeman and Don Little, along with President Shirley Mullen and Dean of the College, Linda Mills-Woolsey officially signed a partnership with the Lilias Trotter Center to offer Islamic Studies courses at Houghton. The Lilias Trotter Center, based out of Orlando, Florida, is a collaboration with Pioneers and Serving In Mission (SIM) and enables Christian engagement with Muslims. The Center partnered with Houghton allowing the College to continue the study of Islam by offering courses to better understand Muslim people and the Muslim world. Currently, the agreement with The Lilias Trotter Center and Houghton College is for 18 months, but if the courses are continued to seen as a value to the College, the partnership will continue.

Currently, Introduction to Islamic Foundations is being offered this semester and is the first course that Houghton has offered residentially and online at the same time. By recording lectures and putting them online, students from all over the world including Kenya and Switzerland are able to learn about Islamic theology and culture. Throughout the course, students are learning about Islam by looking at the three Islam texts: Qur’an, Hadiths, and Sira.  Bethany Rudolph ‘17 said she is taking the course, “to gain a deeper understanding of Islam, to be able to have conversations with Muslims, and to understand what the religion is about.”

Because of budget restrictions, in December of 2013, it looked as though Islamic Studies would be no longer offered at Houghton. Little said, “we needed to know the future of the program and President Mullen invited me to speak out on why we needed Islamic Studies courses.” Throughout the spring semester of 2014, the Lilias Trotter Center and Houghton were communicating about the possibility of a partnership. In May of 2014, an agreement was set between the two organizations and today, they are now in a officially in partnership. Hegeman said, “I’m impressed with President Mullen and her invitation to continue the Islamic Studies programs.” A new Lilias Trotter full-time faculty member, Dr. Gail Schlosser, has joined the Islamic Studies program here at Houghton as well.

Hegeman explains that it is important for anyone in the global community to learn about Islam culture and theology. Senior Tyler Reese explains that her only impression of Muslims before taking this course was what she saw in the media, which she described as terrorist bombings. “I wanted to take this class to have a greater understanding of what provoked those actions and what these people were thinking when they planning such attacks.” Rudolph mentioned that it is easy for people to only listen and to believe to what mass media is telling us about a certain group, such as Muslims. “It’s created a very skewed image of Muslims,” said Rudolph., “Tthe courses that Dr. Little and Dr. Hegeman teach have helped me untangle those ideas and shape a better understanding of what Muslims really believe.,” she said.

Within five years, Little hopes that Houghton will be a main base for teaching Lilias Trotter courses. “We can bring on other Lilias Trotter staff members and work together to serve the local community and the Muslim community,” said Little. These professors are aware of budget restraints but have received a lot of praise for the program. “We realize that it’s an opportunity and challenge,” said Hegeman. In fall of 2015, there will be a new course in Islam offered called Islam: a Christian Introduction. Little said the course will be a general introduction to Islam culture and theology and the department is working on the course to serve as Integrative Studies credit. To find out more about the Lilias Trotter Center, please visit liliastrottercenter.org