BLASPHEMY EVENT 28TH JAN – buy your tickets now!

BLASPHEMY – WHO SPEAKS FOR THE SACRED?

Come and hear KENAN MALIK, AUSTIN DACEY, ANDREW COPSON, JACOB MCHANGAMA, MARYAM NAMAZIE speaking informatively and provocatively on this controversial topic.

Presented by Stephen Law.

Saturday 28th January 2012
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square Holborn

Tickets: £10 (£8 student).
http://www.humanism.org.uk/shop/tickets

10.30am REGISTRATION

11.00AM Kenan Malik
Beyond the sacred

Kenan Malik is a writer, lecturer and broadcaster. He is a presenter of Analysis, BBC Radio 4’s flagship current affairs programme and a panelist on the Moral Maze. He used to present Nightwaves, BBC Radio 3’s arts and ideas programme. He has written and presented a number of radio and TV documentaries including Disunited Kingdom, Are Muslims Hated?, Islam, Mullahs and the Media, Skullduggery and Man, Beast and Politics.

Kenan Malik’s latest book is From Fatwa to Jihad: The Rushdie Affair and its Legacy. The book was shortlisted for the 2010 George Orwell Book Prize.

12.00 Andrew Copson
Blasphemy laws by the back door

Andrew Copson has been chief executive of the British humanist association since 2010 before which he spent five years coordinating the association’s campaigns work including on blasphemy and free speech issues.

1.00-1.30 Lunch

1.30 Austin Dacey
The Future of Blasphemy

Austin Dacey, Ph.D., is a representative to the United Nations for the International Humanist and Ethical Union and the author of The Future of Blasphemy.

2.30 Jacob Mchangama
Between blasphemy and hate speech: How hate speech laws are being used to enforce blasphemy norms

Jacob Mchangama is director of legal affairs at Danish think tank CEPOS and an external lecturer in International Human Rights law at the University of Copenhagen. Jacob has a special focus on freedom of expression and has published articles in international newspapers such as Wall Street Journal Europe, Jerusalem Post, Spiked, Globe and Mail, The Australian and Jyllands Posten. His work on human rights and free speech has been mentioned in The Economist, CBS.com and Courrier International.

3.30 Maryam Namazie
Blasphemy, Offence, and Islamophobia limiting Citizen Rights

Maryam Namazie is Spokesperson of the One Law for All Campaign against Sharia Law in Britain, the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and Equal Rights Now – Organisation against Women’s Discrimination in Iran. She is also National Secular Society Honorary Associate and the NSS’ 2005 Secularist of the Year award winner and was selected one of the top 45 women of the year 2007 by Elle magazine Quebec.

4.30 end

Jointly presented by Centre for Inquiry UK and SPES