Islamic Studies Program Director and Gurney Professor of History, Dr. Roy Mottahedeh, delivered a lecture on April 30, 2009 entitled, "Felines in Islamic Art and Culture: An Entertainment." The lecture, which was previously given at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, offered a lighthearted look at lions and cats in Muslim culture. Early depictions of felines in Islamic art were displayed and contextualized within the general effort to relate animals and humans in classical Muslim taxonomy.