Dixie State University Professor Dr. Preston Hughes will give a presentation entitled "So You Want to Learn About Islam" Mar. 7 at noon in the Russell C. Taylor Health Science Center. | Image courtesy of Dixie State University, St. George News.

ST. GEORGE— Dixie State University will host Dr. Preston Hughes as he presents “So You Want to Learn About Islam” at the next President’s Colleagues of DSU meeting.

The meeting will begin at noon, March 7, in Room 156 of the Dixie State Russell C. Taylor Health Science Center, located on Dixie Regional Medical Center’s River Road campus at 1526 Medical Center Drive. The meeting is free and open to the public.

“My remarks will deal with my own experience in preparing to teach a class on Islam at Dixie State University,” Hughes said. “I will discuss some of the things I have learned from that experience as well as what I consider to be key sources for anyone wanting to understand Islam — from its beginning until today — and some of the things I have learned from those sources.”

Hughes teaches Introduction to Islam and American Government courses at Dixie State as an adjunct instructor. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1965, received a master’s degree in Middle East area studies from the University of Utah in 1972 and earned a doctorate in political science from the University of Mississippi in 1993.

He served in the U.S. Army from 1965 to 1992, retiring with the rank of colonel. He completed two tours in Vietnam and served more than 13 years in Turkey in various assignments, including as a military attaché and NATO liaison officer. Drawing from his experiences, he published “Ataturkism and The Process of Democratization in Turkey.”

The President’s Colleagues of Dixie State University, established more than 20 years ago by former DSU President Dr. Douglas Alder, is a group of retired professors and other professionals who live mostly in the Washington County area.

At their next meeting on Monday, April 4, the Colleagues will hear from St. George Mayor Jon Pike, as he delivers the presentation “What is St. George?” On May 2, Dixie State University President Dr. Richard B. Williams will speak at the last meeting of the 2015-16 academic year. He will deliver the annual Dixie State update. Both of the presentations are set to take place from noon to 1 p.m. in Room 156 of Dixie State’s Russell C. Taylor Health Science Center.