ON IDENTITY Yasmin Alibhai Brown is a columnist for the Independent. Her books include: After Multiculturalism and Who Do We Think We Are? Julian Baggini is a philosopher, his books include Welcome to Everytown. Billy Bragg is a singer, songwriter and a political campaigner. Johann Hari is a columnist for the Independent. Roz Kaveney is a critic and writer. She was “born male but got over it.” Professor John Searle is the Slusser professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkely. Olivia Skinner is the editor of the Commission for Racial Equality’s Catalyst Magazine. Helena Kennedy QC is one of Britain’s leading lawyers, and has been described as “the nation’s favourite Portia” Ayaan Hirsi Ali is the author of Infidel and The Caged Virgin ON TRUTH Gregory Chaitin is an Argentine-American mathematician and computer scientist. Professor Noam Chomsky is Professor of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Nick Davies has been named Journalist of the Year, Reporter of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year for his investigations into crime, drugs, poverty and other social issues. He writes regularly for The Guardian and also makes TV documentaries; his books include Flat Earth News – about falsehood and distortion in the media. Professor Richard J Evans is Professor of modern history at the University of Cambridge. John Humphrys is the presenter of BBC Radio Four’s The Today Programme. Dr Martin Kusch is Professor of Philosophy and Sociology of science at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University. Mary Midgely is a moral philosopher and a former senior lecturer in philosophy at Newcastle University. Peter Oborne is a political columnist for the Daily Mail. His books include The Rise of Political Lying. Baroness Mary Warnock is a British philosopher of morality, education and mind. She was made a life peer in 1985. Peter Wilby is a columnist for the Guardian and a former editor of the New Statesman. Simon Blackburn is professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and author of Truth – A Guide for the Perplexed Dan Hind is the author of The Threat to Reason Bruce Houlder QC is a criminal barrister and the Director of Service Prosecutions David Livingstone Smith is a philosopher and evolutionary psychologist and author of Why We Lie		ON RELIGION Rev Dr Fraser Watts is Reader in Theology and Science at the University of Cambridge, Director of the Psychology and Religion Research Group, and a Fellow of Queens’ College. He is a former President of the British Psychological Society, and is Vicar-Chaplain of St Edward’s Church in Cambridge. Professor John Gray is Emeritus Professor at the University of London. His books include Straw Dogs, Al Qaeda and What it Means to be Modern, Heresies and Black Mass – Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia. Professor Lewis Wolpert is a distinguished developmental biologist, and is an emeritus Professor at University College. He is the author of Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast. His sone Matthew is a writer and comedian. Muhammad Yusuf Al-Hussaini is an Imam and a research fellow of the Interfaith Alliance. Giles Fraser is the Vicar of Putney and formerly lecturer in philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford. He writes for the Guardian and the Church Times and is a regular contributor to Radio 4's Thought for the Day. Professor A.C. Grayling is Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He is the author of numerous philosophical books, and is also a distinguished literary journalist and broadcaster. His most recent books are Towards the Light, published by Bloomsbury, and The Choice of Hercules, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. He is a Contributing Editor of Prospect magazine, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Karen Armstrong's first book Through the Narrow Gate (1981) described her seven years as a nun in a Roman Catholic order. It became a bestseller. Since 1982 she has been a freelance writer and broadcaster. Don Cupitt is an ordained priest and a fellow of Emmanuel College Cambridge. He lectured on the philosophy of religion for over thirty years between 1965 and 1996 and has written over forty books on the subject. Shelina Zahra Janmohamed is a writer and commentator on British Islam. She was born and brought up in London and she studied at New College, Oxford. She writes her own blog at www.spirit21.co.uk. She has also been published in the mainstream press and appears regularly on TV and radio to comment on Islam, Muslim and Muslim women's issues. She writes regularly for The Muslim News, the UK's most widely circulated Muslim newspaper. She is also involved in developing social and cultural events for young British Muslim, as part of creating a new British Muslim culture and identity. Shelina works in the technology industry, and is married and lives in London. Professor Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist and holds the Charles Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford. His books include The Selfish Gene and The God Delusion. He recently founded the Richard Dawkins foundation for Reason and Science. Dr Abdelwahab El-Affendi is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster and co-ordinator of the Centre's Democracy and Islam Programme. He was member of the core team of authors of the UN's Arab Human Development Report 2004. Professor Alister McGrath is Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University. His recent books include The Twilight of Atheism and Dawkin’s God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life. Baroness Julia Neuberger was one of Britain’s first female rabbis and is a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords. Her most recent book is The Moral State We’re In. Professor Tariq Ramadan is a fellow of St Anthony’s College Oxford, Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan) and at the Lokahi Foundation (London). He is a Visiting Professor (in charge of the chair: Identity and Citizenship) at Erasmus University (Holland). He is the author of several books including Western Muslims and The Future of Islam and In The Footsteps of the Prophet. Sir Jonathan Sacks is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. His books include The Politics of Hope and The Dignity of Difference. Dr. Azzam Tamimi is the Director of the London-based Institute of Islamic Political Thought (IIPT). His most recent book: Hamas Unwritten Chapters was published by C. Hurst & Co. in November 2006. He is a regular commentator on a number of Arabic satellite channels including Aljazeera and Alhiwar and frequently makes appearance on a number of English channels. Ann Widdecombe has been a conservative MP for Maidstone since 1987. She has held various ministerial positions including of Minister of State for Prisons and Immigration and Under Secretary of State in the Department of Employment. She has written four novels. Rowan Williams is a distinguished theologian and as Archbishop of Canterbury is head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. | |
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