Tonight, Lancaster University is hosting a series of TEDx talks on the theme of ‘The Journey So Far’. Our own CASS Director Tony McEnery will be joining the dynamic and diverse group of speakers giving give short lectures relating this theme to their work in fields such as digital anthropology, design against crime, sustainable food production, fundraising and social enterprise,  and even magic.

Tony’s TEDx talk is entitled “Where is the ‘Muslim World’?” He will discuss the good, the bad and the ugly ways in which Muslims are talked about in the UK press. To do this he will look at over 200 years of newspaper reporting in the British press relating to Islam and Muslims. While such a study is vast in scope, he will show that only by using the latest computer technology to search through millions and millions of words we can start to understand the roots of modern British media attitudes to Muslims and Islam. As well as seeing what those attitudes are now, and where they came from, the study of the press shows, as though viewed through a distant mirror, the passage of Muslims into British Society, away from being an exotic, Oriental and sometimes dangerous group towards being part of British Society. But where are we on that journey? You’ll have to tune in to find out.

The event sold out almost immediately, but you are able to watch on live webstream by clicking visiting the event page on the TED website between 5pm and 10pm. Tony’s talk is scheduled to take place between 7:30-8:00pm.