What is the appeal of ISIS among Muslim Australians? What are the key issues and challenges in reporting on ISIS? What can be done to counter the ISIS narrative in the Australian context?
These were just some of the questions discussed by academics and journalists at at the Ship Inn, South Bank on Tuesday, May 19.
Professor Steve Stockwell and Associate Professor Halim Rane from the Griffith Centre for Cultural Research hosted the event with special guest speakers Joshua Roose, Benjamin Isakhan and Scott Stephens.
Associate Professor Halim Rane said the militant group ISIS had not only brought terror and destruction to the Middle East, but threatened to further ruin already fragile relations between Australian Muslim communities and the wider society.
“We hope the event provides abetter understanding of the threat posed by ISIS and contribute to more effective responses aimed at countering its ideas and influence,’’ hesaid.
Speaker details:
- Joshua Roose: Why are people heading to fight with ISIS?
Joshua is a Research Fellow at ACU’s Institute for Religion, Politics and Society and a Visiting Scholar at the East Asian Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School. - Benjamin Isakhan: Heritage Destruction under the Islamic State
Benjamin is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and Policy Studies and Convenor of the Middle East Studies Forum at Deakin University. - Scott Stephens: A Practitioner’s Perspective
Scott Stephens is Editor of the ABC’s Religion and Ethics website, and a specialist commentator on religion and ethics for ABC radio and television. - Stephen Stockwell is Professor of Journalism and Communication in the School of Humanities at Griffith University and is a former journalist and political media consultant.
- Halim Rane is Associate Professor Islam-West Relations at Griffith University and the co-author of a new book with Palgrave MacMillan, Media Framing of the Muslim World: Crises, Conflicts and Context.