WELCOME

Shams Inati

Photo of Dr Shams Inati in class

800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, Pennsylvania 19085

Shams C. Inati is a professor and specialist in Islamic philosophy and theology with particular emphasis on Ibn Sina (Avicenna), metaphysics, and the problem of evil. She is also a poetess and a song writer, a public speaker and an advocate of human rights and world peace based on justice.

Spread knowledge so that you may increase tolerance, love, justice, and peace; for ignorance is the source of their contraries.

Contact Information

Professional Career

Special Events Organized

Personal Interests

Some Guiding Principles

World Affairs Resources

Consultation and Speaking Topics

Comments

Contact Information

E-mail
shams.inati@villanova.edu

Office
St. Augustine Center for the Liberal Arts, Room 236
Office Hours: Tues & Thurs 9:00 - 10:00

Office phone
610-519-7301

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Professional Career:

Education:

Doctor of Philosophy, Philosophy, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1979.

Master of Arts, Philosophy, University of Texas at Austin, 1974.

Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy and History, American University of Beirut, 1968.

Current Position:

Professor, Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Villanova University

For a list of Dr. Inati's publications and other aspects of her professional career, see attached CV.

Honors, Awards and Fellowships:

Fullbright Scholar at Balamand University, 2003 - 2004.

Presenter of the 33rd Walter Powell Distinguished Lecture Series in Philosophy at Linfield College, Spring 2003.

Visiting scholar at the Royal Jordanian Institute for Interfaith Studies, Summer 1999.

Joint recipient of U.S. Department of Defense grant (with Dr. Elsayed Omran), for a series of seminars on the Arab world today conducted in Turkey and Italy, Spring 1993.

Andrew Mellon Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, September 1983 - September 1984.

Recipient of the Endowment for the Humanities Grant at SUNY Buffalo, September 1, 1979 - September 30, 1982.

SUNY Intercampus Fellow, September 1977 - June 1978.

Charles Malik's Fellow, January 1973 - January 1974.

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Special Events Organized:

"Islam and the West," A symposium that brought together Middle Eastern religious scholars and State Department officials, Villanova University, 2007.

"Egypt: ‘The Mother of the World’" (Arab cultural day), 2001.

"The Struggle for Justice the Hope for Peace: A Symposium on the Future of Two Peoples in the Holy Land," 2000.

"Iraq: A Symposium on the History, People and Politics," 1999.

"Morocco" (Arab cultural day), 1999.

"Lebanon Today: A Symposium on Postwar Lebanon," 1997.

"Lebanon and Palestine: Their Cultural Heritage" (Arab cultural day), 1997.

"The Influence of Arabic Music on Spanish Melody" (Lecture with Performance), 1997.

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Personal Interests

Reading and writing poetry. Arabic songwriting. Laughing and making others laugh. Singing, dancing and listening to music. Hiking. Having close friendships. Cooking and inventing new dishes. Entertaining. Crocheting. Raising funds for Lebanese schools and universities. Supporting world peace based on justice and resisting human rights violations.

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor" (Archbishop Desmond Tutu).

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Some Guiding Principles

Make every effort to improve what can be improved; accept what cannot be improved and move on.

View the past as a source of learning and the future as a source of hope.

Never despair over bad conditions or become over-confident about good ones; nothing remains the same.

Always have a long view of things and remember that, in time, things are viewed differently.

Look for humor even in the most tragic things; it is only by laughing at things that you may be able to overcome them.

Find comfort in that you and your preoccupations are almost nothing in terms of the universe and eternity.

Resort to the art of close friendship if you ever feel weakened; strength lies in solidarity.

Seek mutual love with those you respect. Nothing is more enjoyable in life than a sense of loving and being loved by those we respect.

Encourage kindness in the world by recognizing it and rewarding it. Discourage unkindness by suppressing it and standing firmly in its way.

Make it your objective to achieve and maintain a sense of self-worth through self-fulfillment.

Do what you know is right even if the world stands against you. A human being comes and goes; the only value one has in the long run is in the positive trace that one leaves on the course of life.