Gulen Movement conference in University of Southern California

(Video Duration: 3 mins. 8 secs.)

The “East and West Encounters: The Gulen Movement” conference was held on Dec. 4-6 and was organized by the Pacifica Institute, a Turkish-American institution established by the Turkish community in the Los Angeles area. The conference was sponsored by the University of Southern California's Office of Religious Life, the International Education Center at Santa Monica College, the department of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University, the department of religious studies at Humboldt University and the department of religious studies at Whittier College. The conference was held on the USC campus.

A very special reception and dinner was held for the three-day event, "The International Conference on East and West Encounters: The Gulen Movement", which will feature scholars of different backgrounds and will aim to stimulate ideas and ways to continue the wisdom of Turkish Muslim scholar Fethullah Gulen to find peace amongst all people and societies.

The opening reception of the Gülen conference began with a welcoming speech by Varun Soni, the Dean of Religious Life at University of Southern California as he prepared the audience to what many have called an "All-star" panel for the weekend.

Also on hand was Dr. Jill Carroll from Rice University who in her opening remarks focused briefly on Gulen's contributions to peace and other important issues.

Internationally acclaimed writer and scholar Dr. Reza Aslan from California University was the keynote speaker for the evening. He, like many, spoke of Gülen's contributions to the concept tolerance and Turkiye's importance in that arena.

The conference will hold several topics with a goal to increase religious and human understanding between different groups and religions.