Friday, October 29, 1:00 PM–5:00 PM

Carl Ernst, University of North Carolina, and Richard C. Martin, Emory University, Presiding

The purpose of the workshop is two-fold. The main goal is to identify and discuss research problems in the study of Islam that are now confronting scholar members of the American Academy of Religion. Participants (AAR members, including graduate students and faculty) will receive a copy of Rethinking Islamic Studies: From Orientalism to Cosmopolitanism, edited by Carl W. Ernst and Richard C. Martin (University of South Carolina Press, 2010), in which fourteen scholars write on specific problems, methods, and theories in Islamic studies today. Within this framework, a second goal is for participants to meet in broad thematic breakout groups, to present current research projects for review, and to offer constructive analysis by the members of the group. Each group will be led by two scholars experienced in research, publication, and grant funding.

The thematic breakout groups are:

• Ethics and Law
  Jonathan Brockopp, Pennsylvania State University, and Ebrahim E. I. Moosa, Duke University
• Gender
  Kecia Ali, Boston University, and Scott A. Kugle, Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World
• History and Historiography
  Vincent Cornell, Emory University, and Ahmet T. Karamustafa, Washington University, Saint Louis
• Religion, Politics, and Society
  Charles Kurzman, University of North Carolina, and Bruce Lawrence, Duke University
• Ritual and Practice
  Joyce Flueckiger, Emory University, and Frederick Denny, University of Colorado
• Text and Interpretation
  Tamara Sonn, College of William and Mary, and Andrew Rippin, University of Victoria

This workshop is sponsored by the Study of Islam Section and the Contemporary Islam Group.