This event has been canceled.

Roxanne Euben transformed the field of political science with her work on Islamic political thought, and is widely recognized for having given shape to the exciting new field of comparative political theory. In the fifth Cornell College of Arts and Sciences Humanities Lecture, "Travel, Translation and Comparative Political Theory," Euben will demonstrate how the lens of travel makes visible important cross-cultural comparisons between Islam and the West.

The talk will be held Sept. 15 at 4:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium in Goldwin Smith Hall. A reception at the A.D. White House will follow the lecture. Both events are free and open to the public.

Euben, who earned her Ph.D. from Princeton University's Department of Politics and Program in Near Eastern Studies in 1995, is chair and the Ralph Emerson and Alice Freeman Palmer Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College, where she has taught since 1998. She won the distinguished Pinanski Teaching Prize in 2003.

Though young, Euben has already distinguished herself as the preeminent American scholar of comparative political theory focusing on Islamic political thought, said Matthew Evangelista, chair and professor of government at Cornell. Her first book, "Enemy in the Mirror: Islamic Fundamentalism and the Limits of Modern Rationalism" explored the theoretical continuities and discontinuities between the work of such radical Islamist thinkers as Sayyid Qutb and prominent theorists of "the crisis of Western modernity," including Heidegger, Adorno, Arendt and Taylor. Political Theory reviewer Anne Norton wrote, "Euben has done a greater service to the academy with this book than many have done with entire careers."

In her second book, "Journeys to the Other Shore: Muslim and Western Travelers in Search of Knowledge," Euben offered a comparative examination of prominent travel narratives in western and Islamic cultures and what they demonstrate about different constructions of home and hospitality. Where literary theorist Edward Said influentially examined how Western travel narratives were involved in the colonial project of orientalism, Euben reversed the focus to explore how similar narratives of travel from the Muslim world produced and navigated boundaries of identity difference, emphasizing the discursive spaces they open for cross-cultural dialogue and exchange.

Most recently, Euben co-edited (with Muhammad Qasim Zaman) "Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought: Texts and Contexts from al-Banna to Bin Laden," a collection of primary sources in Islamic political thought that illuminate the claims and arguments of contemporary Islamists.

"In addition to her impressive achievements in teaching and research, Professor Euben is a lively and engaging intellect and a terrific colleague," Evangelista said.

The Arts and Sciences Humanities Lectures are presented with support from the Office of the President and the College of Arts and Sciences.