Biographical note

Ali A. Mazrui is Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities and Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University, New York. He is also Albert Luthuli Professor-at-Large at the University of Jos in Nigeria, and Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large Emeritus and Senior Scholar in Africana Studies at Cornell University. He formerly served (2003–2009) as Chancellor of the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya. He has also served as Special Advisor to the World Bank and President of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists of North America (2007–2011), and held many other distinguished positions. He has published more than thirty books and several hundred journal articles. Ramzi Badran is Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University, New York. He is a former Fulbright scholar in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution. Dr Badran has taught political science at Johns Hopkins University, Binghamton University and Cornell University. His current research explores modernization processes in the least developed countries, as well as the effect of international agreements on state behavior. He has also written extensively on peace building and conflict transformation in Africa and the Middle East.Thomas Uthup is Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Global Cultural Studies, Binghamton University, New York, and Adjunct Associate Professor of History at Baldwin Wallace University, Ohio. He previously served as Research and Education Manager for the United Nations project on the Alliance of Civilizations. Dr Uthup has taught at Binghamton University and the College of Wooster-Ohio. He has also worked as a fundraiser and administrator at Syracuse University, New York, and Oberlin College, Ohio. He has presented and written extensively on the culture-religion-politics nexus.