Grossmont College Library wins ‘Muslim Journeys’ grant

EL CAJON—The Grossmont College Library will put on its reserve bookshelf this Fall Semester a special collection of 25 books and three films on “Muslim Journeys,” made available through a grant provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Students will be able to check out the reserve items for three days at a time – shorter than the usual time span in order to make the books and films in the collection available to more students during the semester.

Librarian Nadra Farina-Hess told faculty members during “Flex Week,” which is the professional development week prior to the August 19 start-up of classes, that the books and films on Muslim culture constitute the first segment in what is expected to be a multi-year bridge-building exploration of different religions and cultures.  Grossmont College Library was one of 842 libraries throughout the United States that have been awarded the grant.

Farina-Hess told faculty members that for the ease of study the collection is divided into six inter-related topics dealing with Muslims.  These topics are American Stories; Connected Histories (between Muslims and other groups); Literary Reflections; Pathways of Faith; Points of View; and Art, Architecture and Film.  

Information about specific films and books in the collection may be accessed through a Grossmont College web page: http://libguides.grossmont.edu/muslimjourneys

Faculty members teaching courses in history, humanities, languages, religion, and other disciplines were encouraged by Farina-Hess to review the books to determine whether any of them would fit nicely into their class studies. 

She also said a panel discussion on campus to explore Muslim culture is in the works along with the showing of two films, Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World and  Prince Among Slaves.  Dates and times are not yet determined. -- DHH