New Book | What is Islamic Studies? European and North American Approaches to a Contested Field (@AKU_ISMC)

A new book titled What is Islamic Studies? European and North American Approaches to a Contested Field is co-authored by two professors of the The Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations. The book

• Covers topics ranging from gender and secularism to pop music and modern science
• Discusses contemporary and historical approaches in Islamic Studies
• Features contributions from leading scholars studying Islam and Muslims, including Shahzad Bashir, Hadi Enayat, Juliane Hammer, Aaron Hughes, Carool Kersten, Susanne Olsson and Jonas Otterbeck
• Addresses the role of both Muslims and non-Muslims in the ongoing construction of Islam

The study of Islam and Muslims in Europe and North America has expanded greatly in recent decades, becoming a passionately debated and divided field. This collection critically assesses the development of the field of Islamic Studies and its place in society. Featuring contributions from anthropologists, historians and scholars of religion, each chapter contains new empirical material and discusses approaches to the study of Islam, past and present.

The book situates Islamic Studies within broader discussions of the construction of identity and its political implications in Europe and North America. Authors also address tensions between normative and non-normative approaches to the study of Islam and Muslims and consider how these might be reconciled.

Purchase book here.

About the Authors
Leif Steinberg is Dean and Professor of Islamic Studies at The Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations. Between 2010 and 2019 Stenberg was President of the Nordic Society of Middle Eastern Studies and he is currently a member of the World Congress of Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES) Council and vice-president of the European Association for Middle Eastern Studies (EURAMES). He is the editor of numerous books including: Syria from Reform to Revolt Vol. II: Culture, Society and Religion (co-edited with Salamandra, Syracuse University Press, 2015) and Navigating Contemporary Iran: Challenging Economic, Social and Political Perceptions (co-edited with Hooglund, Routledge, 2012).

Philip Wood is Professor of History, The Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations. His research focuses on Christians and Muslims in the Middle East c500-1000 and he is particularly interested the role of history-writing and hagiography in reflecting and asserting social boundaries. Wood is the author of The Chronicle of Seert: Christian Historical Imagination in Late Antique Iraq (OUP, 2013) and editor of the volume History and Identity in the Late Antique East (OUP, 2013). His next monograph, The Imam of the Christians: The World of Dionysius of Tel-Mahre c.750-850, is under contract for 2021 with Princeton University Press.