Dr. Van Der Noll & Professor Nesbitt Larking
Imagine a world where everyone feels equal, where each and every person celebrates diversity. Unfortunately, this is not the reality. A group of professors at Huron College in London held a lecture, “I Accept them but not their Behaviour”, on the acceptance of Islam and Muslim in Western Societies.
Professor Nesbitt Larking, who teaches Politics of Identity and Political Psychology at Huron College in London, planned the lecture.
“We have a visiting scholar from Germany and she’s involved in research on Muslim minorities, focusing on reasons for the attitudes that majority of members have on Muslims. She’s working on attitudes towards the group on things like wearing headscarves for example”.
Dr. Van Der Noll studies at the University of Hagen’s in Germany. She has been doing research for this particular study for a couple of years now but feels that it’s most relevant right now.
“At this moment, there is a lot of anti-Muslim sentiments and there is a lot of debate whether this is pure prejudice and based on religious groups or that is something more like protecting liberal values and societies and whether certain practices should be allowed in Western societies. My research tries to relate to that”.
Dr. Van Der Noll explores different Muslim values that are often conflicting in western societies including the acceptance of gender equality, homosexuality, and headscarves. She presented her ideas through common, everyday scenarios that really opened the eyes of the audience.
Emily Derrick is an exchange student from Solent University in England. She is fascinated by Dr. van Der Noll’s research and thinks that the more your taught, the more you’re able to open your eyes and look at things analytically.
“Today was a huge eye opener. It was great because I was able to look at these situations through the eyes of someone experiencing them but in another country”.
Events like, “I Accept them but not their Behaviour”, are great ways to learn more about the world you are living in.