Conference on Islam Evolution in Russia Begins in Moscow

Russian and American scholars and public figures take part in the conference
An international conference "Reformism in Russian Islam: history and the present" started at the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Oriental Studies on February 27. Main goal of the forum is to analyze history, find out the importance and essence of reforming Islam in Russia, consider contemporary reformatory Islamic projects and estimate their perspectiveness, RIA Novosti news agency was told at the Institute.

At the conference, experts are to discuss the internal evolution of Russia's Islam during the epochs of the Russian Empire, the USSR and democratic Russia, the dogmatics, the law and relations between the authority and Moslem communities.
 
Members of the Russian Mufti Council, officials of governmental structures, embassies, Russian and American Islam researchers and public figures are taking part in the conference.

The forum is organized by the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Oriental Studies and the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies.
 
Reference: Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies is a structural subdivision of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Institute was founded in 1974 by three outstanding public figures: Ambassador George F. Kennan, James Billington (then-director of the Wilson Center) and historian S. Frederic Starr who became the first director of the Institute in 1975.

The Institute was named after a relative of George F. Kennan, George Kennan Sr., a well-known American traveler, publicist and explorer of Russia and Siberia in the 19th century. 

Main goal of the Institute is to contribute to US's knowledge about Russia and former Soviet republics; to develop scientific researches and reports on the issue; keeping up a dialogue between American scholars and experts from governmental institutions concerning relations between the US, Russia, Ukraine and other former republics of the USSR; increasing contacts between scholars from the US and the CIS.

(Cited as based upon information from USA.Polpred.ru)
 
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