Dispatch from France: Prof. Erik Bleich on Charlie Hebdo and French Muslims

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Erik Bleich, professor of political science, has studied and written about France’s tense relationship with its Muslim population, which numbers some five million. He is currently on academic leave, living and conducting research in France, and although he was some distance from the shooting assault at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, Bleich says the event has reverberated throughout the country.

In his opinion piece for the British magazine Prospect, Bleich cautions that this terrible act of violence is likely to reinforce stereotypes of violent Muslims.

Read the full article online, published January 8, 2015.