Distinguished Speakers Series - Salman Rushdie

Award-Winning Author

The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences  was pleased to welcome author Salman Rushdie as keynote speaker for the university’s Undergraduate Commencement Exercises on May 7, 2006 at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, FL. Nova Southeastern University  awarded Rushdie an honorary doctorate of humane letters.

The commencement speech by Rushdie served as a capstone for the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences’ year-long interdisciplinary exploration of the theme of “Good and Evil” through classroom activities and public events. Throughout 2005–2006, the college welcomed to campus leaders in the arts, sciences, and public affairs whose lives and work offer valuable perspective on issues of tolerance, acceptance, and social justice.  “I am excited and thrilled. Here is a man who put principles and ideas on the line and is the perfect commencement speaker. He not only goes well with the year’s theme of good and evil, but is a shining example to students in deed and word about standing up for beliefs and commitment,” said Gary Gershman, Ph.D., an assistant professor of history and legal studies in the Division of Humanities.

Rushdie has written more than 15 novels and short story collections and is the recipient of numerous literary awards, including the Booker Prize for Fiction and the Whitbread Book Award. He is widely regarded as a leading novelist of the 20th century and a strong advocate of free expression in writing. “Rushdie exemplifies not only creative brilliance, but courage,” said David McNaron, Ph.D., an associate professor of philosophy in the Division of Humanities. Rushdie gained widespread international attention in 1988. After publication of his novel The Satanic Verses, he was forced into hiding by an Iranian government death sentence issued against him in response to the book.

The College of Arts and Sciences proudly welcomed Salman Rushdie as an individual who signifies higher education’s central role in the open, uncensored examination of social, cultural, and religious issues. “The choice of Rushdie as speaker inspired questions, invited challenges and embodied larger issues like the importance of free thought and the necessity of creative scholarship,” said Eileen Smith, Ph.D., an assistant professor of sociology in the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences. “His literary themes, from identity to racism to immigration, are at the forefront of current events and they are the issues that confront our graduates. I have great hopes that his visit will inspire dialogue and a respectful, but lively, exchange of intellectual ideas.”
Links to more information about Salman Rushdie:

• PEN American Center
• British Council of Arts
• Random House
• A Salon.com interview with Salman Rushdie
  
• “The Right Time for An Islamic Reformation” — an op-ed by Salman Rushdie in The Washington Post, August 7, 2005