Lecture Series & Booksigning at The Festival

Bio: Turkish writer, journalist and academician Kerim Balci (b. 1971) is recently the editor in chief of Turkish Review, a bimonthly journal published by Zaman Media Group of Turkey. Balci is a frequent columnist in Today’s Zaman and Zaman dailies, both the largest circulating newspapers in their boulevards, and correspondents to several local and international TV channels on issues related to the Middle East. Kerim Balci studied Physics and Political Science and International Relations in the Bosporus University of Turkey. He has an MA from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the city where he served as the representative of Zaman Turkish Daily for eight years. Balci is currently a PhD candidate at the Durham University of the UK on linguistic philosophy.

Bio: Dr.James C. Harrington, a human rights attorney with nearly four decades of experience, is founder and director of the Texas Civil Rights Project. He has taught at the University of Texas School of Law for twenty-five years. Harrington has handled landmark civil rights cases, written and published widely, and served on human rights delegations in different areas of the world.

Bio: Mustafa Akyol is a columnist for two Turkish newspapers, Hürriyet Daily News and Star. His articles have also appeared in Foreign Affairs, Newsweek, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. He studied political science and history at the Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, where he still lives. His book, Islam without Extremes: A Muslim Case for Liberty, an argument for "Muslim liberalism," was published by W.W. Norton in July 2011.

Bio: KATHARINE “KADRIYE” BRANNING, MLS, is Vice-President of the French Institute Alliance Francaise in New Y`ork City, where she serves as the Director of FIAF’s Library. For her work promoting the French language and culture through the creation of numerous libraries in both France and the United States, she was awarded the Ordre national du Mérite from the President of France in 2006, one of the nation’s highest honors. Ms. Branning is a graduate of the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, where she majored in Islamic arts, with a specialty in Islamic glass. As an independent researcher and glass artist, she has conducted annual field work relative to architecture and decorative arts in Turkey since 1978, which has served as the basis for her website, www.turkishhan.org, dedicated to promoting knowledge of Seljuk hans. She is the author of a collection of essays on Turkey, published by Blue Dome Presse: “Yes, I would love another glass of tea”.

Bio: Charles Perry was an editor at Rolling Stone Magazine from 1968 to 1976. Since then he has been a food writer, serving as a staff writer for the Los Angeles Times Food Sectiion 1990-2008. He is a well known historian of Middle Eastern food, and his translation of a 13th-century Baghdad cookbook has been translated into Turkish.

Bio: Edvin Minassian was born and rased in Istanbul. After attending the Sankt Georg Austrian School, he emigrated to the United States at the age of 17. He lived in New York City and attended Baruch College, of the C.U.N.Y. , before moving to Los Angeles with his family. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in the field of Finance and Business Administration from the University of Southern Californis in 1987 and a Juris Doctoer Degree from Loyola Law School in 1990. Mr. Minassian became a member of the State Bar of California in 1990 and has been practicing law since that time. He started his own practice in January of 1993. He remains the managing partner of the Law Firm of Tennenhouse, Minassian and Adham based in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Minassian currently serves as the chairman of the board of trustees of the Organization of Istanbul Armenians; Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Armenian Bar Association and the Government Relations and Protocol Committee of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Bio: Rabbi Firestone is professor of medieval Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union College and founder and co-director of the Center for Muslim-Jewish Engagement (www.usc.edu/cmje). He has lived in Israel and Egypt and has traveled and lectured extensively in Europe, Asia and especially the Middle East. Firestone authored more than eighty scholarly articles and essays and seven books. Considered an entertaining lecturer and even humorous on occasion, he is known for his particular expertise in Jewish-Muslim relations.