Media Advisory: Carnegie Mellon, World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh To Host Reza Aslan

Contact: Shilo Rea / 412-268-6094 / shilo@cmu.edu

Event: Author and scholar of religions Reza Aslan has been making headlines this week thanks to a Fox News interview that's gone viral after a reporter kept asking Aslan why a Muslim would write a book about Jesus.

Carnegie Mellon University's Humanities Scholar Program and the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh will bring Aslan to Pittsburgh next month for a discussion on "The Politics of Jesus," derived from his most recent book, "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth."

"Reza Aslan is a leading scholar of religion and the role that faith plays in public life," said Timothy J. Haggerty, director of the Humanities Scholars Program in CMU's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. "His reexamination of Jesus as a historical figure is central to our world of western culture and interactions with the larger world."

Aslan's first book was the international bestseller "No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam," which was translated into 13 languages and named one of the 100 most important books of the last decade. He also wrote "How to Win a Cosmic War" and edited two volumes: "Tablet and Pen: Literary Landscapes from the Modern Middle East" and "Muslims and Jews in America: Commonalties, Contentions, and Complexities."

Founder of AslanMedia.com, an online journal for news and entertainment about the Middle East and the world, and co-founder and chief creative officer of BoomGen Studios, the premier entertainment brand for creative content from and about the Greater Middle East, Aslan is an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He also is a member of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities and the Pacific Council on International Policy.

When: 6 - 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 17

Where: New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, Pittsburgh, PA 15212

Cost: Student Admission (with ID): $15; General Admission: $25; VIP: $50
(VIPs receive a signed copy of "Zealot," priority seating and a special opportunity to meet the author.)

Registration: http://www.worldpittsburgh.org or call 412-281-7970

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Reza Aslan, a leading scholar of religion (pictured above), will be in Pittsburgh in Sept., to discuss his most recent book.