Islamic Studies

Program Summary

Students specializing in Islamic Studies study Islam’s formative, classical, and medieval interpretive tradition; modern Muslim intellectual traditions and history; or contemporary Muslim thought and practice.

Students work with sources including classical Arabic texts as well as modern and contemporary writing in Arabic, Hindi/Urdu, and various Western languages.

Where appropriate, students pursue historical and ethnographic as well as textual research.

Student focus generally coincides with faculty regional expertise in the Arab world, South Asia and its diaspora, Europe, and North America.

Research specializations include law, exegesis, biography, Sufism, philosophy, and modern thought as well as contemporary interpretation and practice.

Crosscutting themes include gender, sectarianism, religious encounter/other, and the boundaries of religious identity.