Putting Islam in the Title

Tonight is the infamous "That sounds very interesting but could you put the word Islam in the title?" talk.

I went to the web site of the congregation where I'm speaking to grab an image of their sanctuary, which is built in what is referred to as Byzantine-Moorish Revival style as a way of driving home and making very concrete the idea that you can't always tell what a building is based on its architectural style. It's really a very small point at the start of my talk, but I thought that this would be a good way of engaging the group very much on their own terms.

Much to my surprise, I learned that I am giving a talk entitled "Understanding Islamic History."

I suppose I should have seen it coming. Regardless, I suspect I'm going to be facing a lot of very disappointed little old ladies.