WHO:  John Esposito, director, Center for Muslim-Christian    Understanding, Georgetown University

WHAT: University of Pennsylvania Middle East Center Public Lecture and Janet Lee Stevens Memorial Lecture

WHEN:  Monday, Nov. 3, 2003, 5 p.m.

WHERE: Room B-26, Steitler Hall on the Penn campus

John Esposito, a widely renowned expert on the Middle East, will address the topic "The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?" at the lecture, co-sponsored by the Janet Lee Stevens Memorial Lecture Committee, Penn's Middle East Center, the Solomon Asch Center and the Religious Studies Department.

Esposito is a professor of religion and international affairs and a professor of Islamic studies at Georgetown University.  He is the founding director of Georgetown's Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.  A consultant to the U.S. State Department as well as to corporations and universities, Esposito specializes in Islam, political Islam and the impact of Islamic movements from North Africa to Southeast Asia.

The lecture is free and open to the public.