Curriculum for Cohesion
SOAS

Latest news

CfC presentation to student-practitioners on the Mst in Applied Criminology at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge

By Dr. Matthew Wilkinson

Wednesday, 5 July 2017. Dr. Matthew Wilkinson delivered a lecture entitled ‘Islamic Sharia’ and English Law: complementary partners or competing alternatives in cases of Serious Crime?’ to students on the Mst in Applied Criminology at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge. These students were prison officers and governors undergoing a reflective programme of study on their practice convened by Dr. Ben Crewe. The talk showed how some of the Serious Crimes popularly associated with Islam and Muslims, such as ‘honour’ killings and terrorist offences, also represent serious crimes in Islam and how an interaction of ‘noxious absences’ and ‘malign presences’ in the lives of a small minority of young Muslims generate serious criminality. It ended by suggesting that there was nothing procedural about the English legal process that should prevent Muslims from facilitating and participating fully in the course of justice or that made it, in principle, incommensurate with the principles of Islamic law. The talk was described as a real ‘eye-opener’ by one student and generated a different perspective on how Islam and Muslims can tap into an ancient tradition of Islamic lawfulness in a country such as Britain.

This post was published on Tuesday, 18th July , 2017 at 5:54 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also add a comment to this post, or trackback from your own website.

‘Islam in 11 Objects’ at Summer Fields School, Oxford

By Dr. Matthew Wilkinson

Thursday, 29 June 2017. At the invitation of Religious Education teacher, Mrs. Nicola Bush, Dr. Matthew Wilkinson made a presentation of ‘Islam in 11 Objects’ to the Year 6 of Summer Fields School, Oxford. This talk used 11 iconic objects to present the basic religious framework of Islam and cultural and intellectual achievements of Islamic civilisation and to show how Islam represents a balance between the demands of God and the Next World and the rights and responsibilities of humanity in This World. The children asked probing, intelligent questions and students and staff alike expressed their fascination for the fresh and vibrant look at Islam that the talk presented, which debunked some popular stereotypes of Islam as an ascetic and life-denying faith.

This post was published on Tuesday, 18th July , 2017 at 5:37 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also add a comment to this post, or trackback from your own website.

‘Islam in 11 Objects’ at St. Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, Chinnor

By Dr. Matthew Wilkinson

Monday, 15 May 2017. At the invitation of a school governor, Mr. Vineeth Purushothaman, Dr. Matthew Wilkinson made a presentation of ‘Islam in 11 Objects’ to the Year 6 of St. Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, Chinnor. This talk used 11 iconic objects to present the basic religious framework of Islam and cultural and intellectual achievements of Islamic civilisation and to show how Islam represents a balance between the demands of God and the Next World and the rights and responsibilities of humanity in This World. The children asked probing, intelligent questions and students and staff alike expressed their fascination for the fresh and vibrant look at Islam that the talk presented, which debunked some popular stereotypes of Islam as an ascetic and life-denying faith.

This post was published on Tuesday, 18th July , 2017 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also add a comment to this post, or trackback from your own website.

Curriculum for Cohesion talks at the University of Leiden about bridging the ‘unserious’ gap between Islamic Studies and the experience of Islam

By Dr. Matthew Wilkinson

Thursday 6 April 2017. Dr. Matthew Wilkinson delivered a conference paper at the Leiden Islam Academie, University of Leiden, Holland entitled ‘Bridging the ‘unserious’ gap between Islamic Studies and the experience of Islam’ about how the philosophy of Islamic Critical Realism can be applied to bridge the ‘unserious’ gap between Islamic Studies and the experience of Islam in the world today. In particular, it showed that by mobilising the fulcrum of critical realism – the relationship between spiritual being with spiritual knowing and understanding and spiritual deliberation and commitment-making – a pedagogy to embrace both teaching about and teaching for Islam can be developed. The paper was enthusiastically received and perhaps, even more pleasingly, was the fact that Curriculum for Cohesion’s work with the philosophy of critical realism has been picked up and used by other researchers on the continent as an effective theoretical approach to researching Muslims in Europe.

This post was published on Thursday, 6th April , 2017 at 3:20 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also add a comment to this post, or trackback from your own website.

Curriculum for Cohesion talks straight to the Guardian about teaching controversial issues on the History curriculum

By Dr. Matthew Wilkinson

Tuesday 27 March 2017. In the context of five exam boards for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, removing Israel-Palestine from their GCSE offering since 2014, Curriculum for Cohesion’s Patron, Mohammed Amin MBE, spoke to the Guardian about the crucial function of the History classroom for teaching controversial events and issues from multiple perspectives in a safe space and how the UK Government “ducked” the chance to set the Israel-Palestine conflict in deep historical perspective in their 2012 National Curriculum Review. This was despite Curriculum for Cohesion’s evidenced report to that review process which showed clearly the benefits both for accurate knowledge and mutual understanding of such a deep and multi-perspectival approach:

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/28/uk-exam-boards-drop-israel-palestine-syllabus-school-teachers

This post was published on Thursday, 6th April , 2017 at 3:11 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also add a comment to this post, or trackback from your own website.

Mr. Mohammed Amin MBE, Curriculum for Cohesion Chair of Donors, is honoured by Her Majesty, the Queen

By Dr. Matthew Wilkinson

13 June 2016. Mr. Mohammed Amin MBE, Curriculum for Cohesion Chair of Donors, has been honoured by Her Majesty, the Queen as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Amin has been recognised “for services to Community Cohesion and Inter-faith Relations in Greater Manchester” primarily for his work as Founder Member and Co-Chair of the Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester.

Dr. Matthew Wilkinson, Director of Curriculum for Cohesion, would like to lead the CfC team in congratulating Amin on this honour sure in the knowledge that this is highly well-deserved and timely recognition of everything that Amin contributes,in Greater Manchester and beyond, quite voluntarily and altruistically to making British society a more cohesive, knowledgeable and pleasant environment in which all types of people can flourish. We are all proud of you, Amin.

This post was published on Thursday, 16th June , 2016 at 11:15 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also add a comment to this post, or trackback from your own website.

Curriculum for Cohesion’s Lead Patron, the Rt. Hon. Sadiq Khan, is elected Mayor of London

By Dr. Matthew Wilkinson

5 May 2016. Curriculum for Cohesion’s Lead Patron since 2012, the Rt. Hon. Sadiq Khan, who was the Labour Party candidate, has been elected the third Mayor of London, winning 44.2% of the first round vote and 56.9% of the second round vote. His nearest rival was the Conservative Party candidate Zac Goldsmith. Sadiq is accredited with running a highly effective campaign with clear and consistent messages that appealed to a broad cross-section of Londoners.

He is the first Muslim mayor of a major European capital and true to authentic Islam and, indeed, Curriculum for Cohesion’s mission, is determined to bring success and prosperity to all Londoners. Sadiq has said “I want all Londoners to have the same opportunities that our city gave me: a home they can afford, a high-skilled job with decent pay, an affordable and modern transport system and a safe, clean and healthy environment.”

The whole Curriculum for Cohesion team is incredibly proud of you, Sadiq. We ask that God guides you in wisdom and justice with this great Trust that He has given you. Amin.

This post was published on Sunday, 8th May , 2016 at 8:34 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also add a comment to this post, or trackback from your own website.

Curriculum for Cohesion contributes to the The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) information paper on examinations in Ramadan

By Dr. Matthew Wilkinson

Dr. Matthew L N Wilkinson, Director of Curriculum for Cohesion, was one of the scholars and signatories on the working group convened by The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) to produce an information paper for schools and colleges over the observance of Ramadan during this summer’s exams. Ramadan falls within the examination season in 2016 and will do so for the next few years.

The information paper is aimed at giving school and college leaders information to initiate discussions with Muslim students and their families on how Muslim pupils can best balance their Islamic obligations and exam performance during Ramadan, following the flexible and humane principles of Islamic law. The paper has received widespread media coverage in Britain and in the Muslim-majority world and endorsed by leading Muslim community organisations, including the Muslim Council of Britain.

The ASCL paper can be found at: http://www.ascl.org.uk/news-and-views/news_news-detail.ascl-produces-paper-over-ramadan-and-exams.html

This post was published on Wednesday, 27th April , 2016 at 7:35 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also add a comment to this post, or trackback from your own website.

Nicola Padfield, Master of Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge offers rich insight about the book ‘A Fresh Look at Islam in a Multi-faith World’

By Dr. Matthew Wilkinson

8 April 2016. Nicola Padfield, Master of Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge and Reader in Criminal and Penal Justice at the Law Faculty, University of Cambridge, offers some rich insights on her reading of Matthew Wilkinson’s book ‘A Fresh Look at Islam in a Multi-faith: a philosophy for success through education’ in connection with the UK Government’s Prevent strategy. Her piece can be read at:

https://blog.fitz.cam.ac.uk/2015/06/

This post was published on Friday, 8th April , 2016 at 9:05 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also add a comment to this post, or trackback from your own website.

Dr. Matthew Wilkinson speaks to the Cambridge Union Society on religious extremism

By Dr. Matthew Wilkinson

26 February 2016. Dr. Matthew Wilkinson contributed to a panel discussion at the Cambridge Union Society entitled, ‘How do we respond to religious extremism,’ with Remona Aly, a guardian journalist and founder of Exploring Islam Foundation, Muhammad Abdul Bari, Former Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, Muhammad Manwar Ali, an Islamist in the 80s who now speaks out against IS and develops anti-radicalisation training and Dr Humeira Iqtidar, Senior Lecturer in Politics at King’s College London.

Dr. Wilkinson explained the general basis of extremisms in terms of exaggerated divisions of the world into ‘Us’ and ‘Them’ which in the case of the violent extremism sharpens into violence. He then detailed the particular characteristics of violent Islamist extremism and explained how this ideology subverts Islamic doctrine as well as explaining what an effective multi-dimensional response to violent Islamist extremism might look like.

The panel stimulated an intelligent and useful discussion in the 60 or so attendeees.

This post was published on Sunday, 28th February , 2016 at 10:33 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also add a comment to this post, or trackback from your own website.

Curriculum for Cohesion presents to National Offender Management Service (NOMS)

By Dr. Matthew Wilkinson

18 February 2016. Dr. Matthew Wilkinson, Director of Curriculum for Cohesion, gave a presentation entitled ‘Factors in Muslim criminality: noxious absences and malign presences in young Muslims’ lives’ at the Ministry of Justice to senior civil servants of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS), including Ms. Maggie Bolger, Lead Learning and Development Commissioner, and Mr. Ahtsham Ali, Muslim Adviser at Chaplaincy Headquarters. It was a highly productive meeting and the NOMS team were convinced both by the analytical framework of Dr. Wilkinson’s analysis based on the interaction of noxious absences and malign presences in young Muslims’ lives and of the need for further detailed empirical research on effects of Islam in prisons in order to maximise the benefits and minimise the dangers of Islam for Muslim offenders.

This post was published on Sunday, 28th February , 2016 at 10:30 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also add a comment to this post, or trackback from your own website.

Publication of the impact of Curriculum for Cohesion to date…

By Dr. Matthew Wilkinson

Curriculum for Cohesion is developing minds to heal a fractured world by enriching the school curriculum, by moving academic thinking forward, and by training teachers, judges, barristers, prison officers and journalists in improved understandings of the relationship of Islam and Muslims to liberal democratic societies.

We have posted the assessment of the qualitative and quantitative impact of our work to date and our projected future impact at: http://curriculumforcohesion.org/about/what-impact-are-we-having/

This post was published on Sunday, 20th December , 2015 at 10:33 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also add a comment to this post, or trackback from your own website.

« Older Posts