Interdisciplinary Seminar
for Islamic Studies
(ISIS)
ISIS is a University of Michigan-based initiative developed in 2009 by a group of graduate students and faculty from several departments and supported by the Rackham Graduate School (Through the Rackham Interdisciplinary Workshop), The Islamic Studies Program, and the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies (CMENAS).
ISIS was conceived as a space for intellectual exchange for scholars of the Islamic world broadly conceived. Arising from the need for such a forum for those working in different geographic areas and historical periods, it gives scholars at various points in their academic careers the opportunity to read cutting edge texts of interest to the group. These scholars discuss different methods, content matter, and theoretical, conceptual, and analytical approaches related to the study of Islam and Muslims. We take as our goal the development of an institutional framework through which these scholars can cooperatively develop new critical tools that will be transformative of both the work of individuals participating in the seminar and scholarship on Islam and the Islamic world more broadly.
Past ISIS Events with leading Islamic Studies scholars:
About ISIS
Valerie Hoffman, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana. Dr. Hoffman gave a public lecture on April 5th 2010 entitled “The Role of Descendants of the Prophet in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Swahili Society.” On the morning of April 6th Dr. Hoffman held a breakfast workshop discussing her book Sufism, Mystics, and Saints in Modern Egypt (1995).
Rüdiger Seesemann, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Northwestern University. On April 13th 2010 Dr. Seesemann held a workshop over a light dinner discussing his article-in-progress entitled “Spiritual Training: The Roots of a Twentieth-Century West African Sufi Revival.” On April 14 2010 Dr. Seesemann gave a public lecture entitled “On the Cultural History of Islamic Knowledge and Its Contemporary Relevance.”
Leor Halevi, Associate Professor of History at Vanderbilt University. On November 8 2010, Dr. Halevi delivered a public lecture entitled “Western Things and the Shari’a: Fatwas on European and American Commodities“. On November 9 2010, Dr. Halevi held a workshop over breakfast discussing his book Muhammad’s Grave: Death Rites and the Making of Islamic Society (2007).
For further information regarding future events and membership, please contact ISIS student coordinators:
Ismail Fajrie Alatas Yamil Avivi