Award-Winning Journalist to Give Talk at Holy Cross

WORCESTER, Mass. – Anisa Mehdi, an Emmy Award-winning journalist and producer of documentaries on Islam for National Geographic, PBS, ABC News, and CBS, will give a talk titled "Islam in America" on Nov. 30 at 4 p.m. in the Rehm Library at the College of the Holy Cross. The National Geographic documentary by Mehdi, "Inside Mecca" will be shown on Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. in Rehm Library, with a discussion led by Professor Adam Gaiser of the department of religious studies. Both events are free and open to the public.

Mehdi will talk about the experience of Muslims living in American society and culture, about being Muslim and being American, in these difficult days of international tension.

"Inside Mecca" focuses on the pilgrimage of three individuals: from the USA, Malaysia and South Africa to Mecca for the hajj. Mehdi’s lecture on Nov. 30 will focus on the experience of Muslim Americans who, much like Catholic Americans, find themselves in a tense international situation, struggling to be Muslim and American.

An internationally renowned expert on Islam, Mehdi specializes in religion, the arts, and people. For more than 20 years she has reported, written, directed and produced television news and documentary programs for major American media outlets, including National Geographic, PBS, ABC News and CBS. Her commentaries have been heard on NPR’s "All Things Considered." She has written perspective pieces for newspapers, magazines and Internet sites. Mehdi is founder and president of Whetstone Productions, a New Jersey-based production and consulting company.

She began her career as a news writer for WBZ-TV in Boston and later worked as an associate producer for CBS News in New York.

The events, sponsored by the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture, are part of the Peace and Conflict Series "Islam and the West: A Clash of Civilizations or a Search for Common Ground," which runs into the spring semester.