• His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan (known to the Ismailis as Mawlana Hazar Imam), the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. AKDN
    The Ismaili | 19 October 2015

    Mawlana Hazar Imam to deliver lecture at Harvard University

    His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan (known to the Ismailis as Mawlana Hazar Imam), the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. AKDN

On 12 November 2015, Mawlana Hazar Imam will deliver the Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture at Harvard University — one of the university’s most distinguished lectureships. 

He is expected to speak on the challenges to pluralism and cosmopolitanism.

The event will start at 4:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (GMT-5) and will be webcast live at TheIsmaili.org/live. Please note that tickets to attend the event at Harvard University are sold out.

Sponsored by Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, the Samuel L. and Elizabeth Jodidi Lecture provides for “the delivery of lectures by eminent and well-qualified persons for the promotion of tolerance, understanding and good will among nations, and the peace of the world.”

Since its establishment in 1955, the lecture has featured heads of state, diplomats and international public figures, including a former secretary-general of the United Nations, past president of the World Bank, and the secretary general of the European Council.

In 2008 Harvard awarded Mawlana Hazar Imam an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree for his promotion of mutual understanding between the Islamic world and the West and for his advocacy of pluralism and democratic values. The university is also Mawlana Hazar Imam’s alma mater — he graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts Honors Degree in Islamic history.