Beacon of Knowledge

Abstract

Beacon of Knowledge: Conference in Honor of Seyyed Hossein Nasr was held November 2-3, 2001 at the George Washington University, Washington, DC. The conference featured eight panels, thirty-six speakers, an exhibit of caJiigraphy and paintings, poetry recitation, and a concert of classical Persian music. The conference drew a crowd of around two hundred people. The Beacon of Knowledge conference was convened to honor Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr and his contributions to the field oflslamic and Iranian studies, perennial philosophy, and the relations between Islam and the West. In his opening remarks, Stephen J. Trachtenberg, president of the George Washington University, underlined the importance of the scholarly career of Dr. Nasr in bridging the gaps between the sciences and humanities on the one hand, and Islam and the West, on the other. He also noted that the approach Dr. Nasr advocates in the fields of culture and civilization has gained further importance in the wake of the September 11th attacks on America. The keynote speech was delivered by Keith Critchlow of the Visual Islamic and Traditional Arts Department (VITA) of the Prince of Wales' Foundation, London, UK. As an old friend and colleague of Dr. Nasr, Critchlow emphasized Dr. Nasr's contributions to the revival of the study of traditional arts and the establishment of the VITA while at the same time providing insights into the personal friendship between him and Dr. Nasr over the last thirty years . Dr. Critchlow also made a wonderful presentation of the activities of VITA with slides and showed some remarkable examples of the works of the students studying at VITA. The first panel of the conference was devoted to the personal testimonies of some friends and students of Dr. Nasr. N. Assar; S. Nemitz; P. Felsenthal; A. al-Hibri; D. Burrell; and M. Shirazi talked about their friendships with Dr. Nasr, some of which go back to the 1940s and 1950s (before ...