PANEL: About Islam
A lecture and Q&A covering the basics of the faith

Speaker:
• Imam Mohamed Magid, director, All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS)

PANEL: Women and American Islam
Discussion on how American Muslim women are increasingly taking on leadership roles in their communities and the implications for the U.S. and beyond

Speakers:
• Maha ElGenaidi, founder & president of Islamic Networks Group (ING)
• Daisy Khan, executive director, American Society for Muslim Advancement
• Dalia Mogahed, executive director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies
• Mona Eltahawy, freelance journalist and commentator

Lunch at The Hamilton Crowne Plaza
Sponsored by author Dr. Will Davis Jr., featuring his new book, "Why Faith Makes Sense."

PANEL: American Muslim Civic Participation
Discussion on rising civic and interfaith participation from the American Muslim community and what it means to communities throughout the U.S.

Speakers:
• Edina Lekovic, communications director, Muslim Public Affairs Council
• Zeenat Rahman, outreach and training coordinator, Interfaith Youth Core
• Farid Senzai, director of research, Institute for Social Policy and Understanding
• Dawud Walid, executive director, Council on American-Islamic Relations—Michigan

PANEL: Reporting on American Muslims
Discussion on current coverage and how to overcome challenges reporting on the American Muslim community

Speakers:
• Maria Ebrahimji, producer, CNN
• Anisa Mehdi, documentary filmmaker
• Tayyibah Taylor, Azizah Magazine
• Jamie Tarabay, NPR

PRE-CONFERENCE PROGRAM:
Getting Up to Speed on Multimedia:
a Practical Primer for Print Religion Journalists

Workshop speaker: Lynda Kraxberger, Missouri School of Journalism

Topics to be covered:
• What are people doing online?
• Writing for the ear: Conversational writing
• Writing for the ear: Adding natural sound
• Visual composition and grammar
• Performance tips & tricks
• Best of the Web

PANEL: Putting Faith in Politics
Seasoned political commentators discuss the roles faith communities have played in this year's presidential campaign—from candidates' personal beliefs to the effectiveness of Democrats to appeal to religious voters. Moderated by Adelle Banks, Religion News Service.

Speakers:
• Michael Gerson, op-ed columnist, The Washington Post, former chief speechwriter for President George W. Bush,
• Amy Sullivan, national correspondent, TIME magazine

PANEL: The New Religion Page
Editors of some of the best online religion pages will talk about how their religion sections made the transition from paper to the Web. Moderated by Mirko Petricevic, Waterloo Region Record.

Speakers:
• Cathy Grossman, religion reporter, USA TODAY
• Sam Hodges, religion reporter, The Dallas Morning News
• David Waters, editor & producer, On Faith

PANEL: Strangers & Aliens Among Us
The immigrant experience is as old as Abraham. This panel will look at how U.S. faith communities respond to immigrants, and how congregations welcome worshippers who may be precious in the eyes of God but illegal in the eyes of the state. Moderated by Abe Levy, San Antonio Express-News.

Speakers:
• J. Kevin Appleby, director of migration and refugee policy, Migration and Refugee Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
• Roy Beck, founder and CEO, NumbersUSA
• Kim Bobo, founder and executive director, Interfaith Worker Justice

PANEL: We Believe In No God, and You Shouldn't Either
Outspoken atheists have produced a host of bestsellers over the past two years with bold challenges to religious faith. This panel will probe the dynamics of atheism and secularism as broad movements, and examine the different perspectives of those who seek morals and meaning beyond religion. Moderated by William Lobdell, Four Boys New Media.

Speakers:
• Jennifer Michael Hecht, author, "The End of the Soul: Scientific Modernity, Atheism and Anthropology"
• Barry Kosmin, director, Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture
• Paul Kurtz, founder, Center for Inquiry and author, "Forbidden Fruit: The Ethics of Secularism"

NEW SURVEY RELEASE: 2008 National Survey of Religion & Politics
Conducted at the University of Akron in every presidential election since 1992, the 2008 National Survey of Religion and Politics offers a baseline for assessing the role of religion in the 2008 presidential election. John Green, the director of the study will release the 2008 pre-election survey and offer comparisons to the pre-election surveys in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004. Moderated by Joe Rodriguez, The Wichita Eagle.

Presenter:
• John Green, professor of political science, University of Akron; director, Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics

PANEL: The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln
(at nearby New York Ave Presbyterian Church, 1313 New York Ave. NW)
In 2009 there will be a national celebration of the 200th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, with history museums and libraries nationwide expected to be involved. Here's your angle: Lincoln's religious faith has always been disputed, with some historians pegging him as a devout Christian, others a skeptical rationalist and a small minority as a Spiritualist. Lincoln scholars will examine the evidence for what he believed and how his legacy has taken on religious overtones. Moderated by Peter Smith, The Courier-Journal.

Speakers:
• David Early, Library of Congress
• Dewey Wallace, religious studies professor, George Washington University
• Ronald C. White Jr., author of two bestselling books on Abraham Lincoln

PANEL: The Challenge of Catholic Schools
Most of the teachings nuns are gone, and so are many of the students. Why are parochial schools closing in some areas, growing in others or changing to meet modern realities? In addition to reviewing trends in Catholic parochial education, Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C., will speak about the unique solutions he tried in an attempt to keep open inner-city Catholic schools. Moderated by Michael Paulson, The Boston Globe.

Speakers:
• Mark Gray, research associate, CARA
• Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl, Archdiocese of Washington

PANEL: Sourcing Islam: Nuanced Reporting on a Contested Faith
Confused about who to call to get responsible and informed views from within the Islamic community? You're not alone. This panel will help you locate credible sources on Islam and understand where they stand on the Muslim political, theological and social spectrum. Moderated by Matthai Kuruvila, San Fransico Chronicle.

Speakers:
• Shahed Amanullah, founder, Halalfire Media LLC, and editor-in-chief, Altmuslim.com
• Paul Barrett, assistant managing editor, BusinessWeek, and author, "American Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Religion"
• Dalia Mogahed, executive director, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies

BREAKOUT PANEL #1: Boggled by Blogging?
A growing number of religion reporters are being asked to blog for their outlet's website. This panel will look at how to make your blog more interesting than the thousands of others out there, when to find time to write it and how to deal with controversial subject matter in this more personal forum. Moderated by Kristen Campbell, The Press-Register.

Speakers:
• Manya Brachear, Chicago Tribune
• Terry Mattingly, GetReligion.org
• Andrea Useem, freelancer, ReligionWriter.com

BREAKOUT PANEL #2: Whither Congregations?
The big wooden doors are closing as graying churches and synagogues can no longer sustain themselves in changing neighborhoods. This panel will look at why some neighborhood congregations are dying and how others are reinventing themselves to reach out to new flocks of faithful in coffeehouses, warehouses and homes. Moderated by Cecile Holmes, University of South Carolina.

Speakers:
• Diana Butler Bass, author, speaker and independent scholar specializing in American religion and culture
• Andre Daley, leader, Mosaic Life (Christian faith community)
• Julia Duin, assistant national editor of religion, The Washington Times

BREAKOUT PANEL #4: The Mission of Architecture
Pour your dollars into a beautiful, historic building, or put the money to work on spreading the faith and caring for the needy? This workshop will look at ways some Washington congregations have found to resolve that dilemma, and what happens when outsiders try to landmark a house of worship against the will of the faith community. Moderated by Kevin Eckstrom, Religion News Service.

Speakers:
• Darrow Kirkpatrick , (retired) First Reader, Third Church of Christ, Scientist
• Bob Jaeger, executive director, Partners for Sacred Places

BREAKOUT PANEL #5: Surveying Surveys
Reporters are bombarded with purported poll and survey results on religious belief and practice. But how do we know which studies are trustworthy and how to interpret what they say? We look at sound and faulty data and help you find ways to tell which is which. Moderated by Jacqui Salmon, The Washington Post.

Speakers:
• Roger Finke, director, Association of Religion Data Archives
• Ed Stetzer, president, LifeWay Research
• Dan Cox, research director, Public Religion Research