Cumberland University's Vise Library will host guest speaker Thana Numan on Tuesday, March 23 for a presentation on Women in Muslim Life as part of the continuing iRead series. The lecture will take place from 12:30 until 1:30 p.m. in the K-Room, located in Philips Dining Hall on the CU campus.

Numan's parents are from Yemen, but she was raised in Toronto and moved to the United States in 2000. She is a graduating senior this semester from Tennessee Technological University, where she will receive her bachelor's in History with minors in French, Arabic and journalism.

She works at the Sudanese Community and Women's Services Center as the Employment Program Assistant Coordinator, helping refugees and immigrants to improve their employability. Numan is also a student of Almaghrib Institute, taking classes in Islamic studies.

Her presentation was arranged by Olive Tree Education, an Islamic outreach and education group based in middle Tennessee. More information on the organization may be found at www.olivetreeeducation.org.

Vise Library oversees a campus reading program known as iRead, designed to affirm the importance of reading and to create a common reading experience for the Cumberland University community. The library hopes to encourage interaction among students and faculty and to promote critical thinking by facilitating reading and discussion of important books with the continuing series.