Congratulations to Professors Joshua Arthurs and Suleyman Dost who have been awarded SSHRC Connections Grants for their upcoming conferences and workshops!
Prof. Dost's international conference will take place in April 2023 and is titled “Re-evaluating Methodological Trajectories in the Academic Study of Islam”. The conference is also supported by a grant from the Office of the Vice-President, International. This project is intended as a fresh approach to the study of Islam crossing existing disciplinary boundaries and questioning entrenched methodologies that we inherited from the colonialist and orientalist enterprises of the 19th and 20th century academia. Even after incisive dialogues around social justice, inclusion and representation in the recent years, Islam is taught in academia and understood in everyday discourse as a Sunni-centered and racially monolithic religion that has a hard time addressing some of the more pressing questions that the contemporary world poses. More particularly, Islamic studies as an academic field is constrained by sectarian divisions, gender disparity, and a lack of racial representation. These issues affect not only an inclusive understanding of Islamic history but they also beleaguer the reception of academic Islamic Studies in the Muslim world. To overcome these problems, we believe that there needs to be a wider dialogue among different interpretations of Islam that take stock of the diversity in contemporary Muslim communities in terms of confessional identities, gender and race.
Prof. Arthurs's workshop tentatively planned for September 2023 titled “Authoritarianism: Lives, Legacies, Traumas” will examine the lived experience and aftermaths of authoritarian dictatorships - from twentieth-century Europe and Latin America to contemporary regimes in Southeast Asia, North Africa and beyond - to address contemporary critiques and crises of liberal democracy. Over two days of research presentations and roundtables, an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars and cultural producers will explore the enduring legacies of illiberal politics on nations, communities and individuals. These questions take on particular urgency at the present moment, with war raging on the European continent, the rise of the radical right and insurrectionist movements directed against the constitutional order, and the erosion of public trust and social solidarity intensified by the Covid-19 pandemic. At a time when authoritarian solutions to societal problems are gaining traction, our discussions will provide a salutary reminder of the traumas they inflict and identify possible strategies for bolstering civil society.
We look forward to sharing more about Profs Arthurs and Dost's projects in the new year!