This past spring I was invited to give the keynote address at the Annual Central Eurasian Studies Conference at the University of Indiana. In my talk, Even Unto China: Interpreting Islam in Dialogue, I tried to address some of the difficult theoretical issues that arise in examining cultures in contact, and especially within Islamic Studies. Notions of center…
The Harvard University Asia Center ran an Islam in Asia Seminar Series that included several presentations on Islam in China. Videos of two other presentations from the series are available on the Center’s vimeo channel. Nancy Steinhardt (University of Pennsylvania), “The Mosque in China” Kevin Caffrey (Harvard University), “Chinese Muslims and Revitalizing Islam in Southwest China” You can watch my talk, “The First…
One of the professional projects that most shapes my weekly activities is hosting two channels on the New Books Network. This is also one of the pursuits that I most enjoy as an academic. Check them out New Books in Religion and New Books in Islamic Studies The idea is simple. Author writes a book, we talk about it.…
Back in the spring of 2013 Ali Asani invited me to give a talk at the Harvard University Asia Center as part of their Islam in Asia Seminar Series. It was a wonderful experience overall, not least because I was able to meet some excellent scholars for the first time in person (Nancy Steinhardt, Devin Fitzgerald, Eric Schluessel,…
THATCamp (The Humanities and Technology Camp) is what they call an unconference. What that means is participants run the show on the fly based on the needs, desires, and skills of everyone who showed up. They are interactive and thought provoking and you should definitely head to your nearest one to check out what everyone is…
In the spring of 2013, I participated in a wonderful conference organized by the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley called Forms of Exchange: China and the Muslim World. There were lots of great friends there and I made many new ones. My presentation was titled “Textual Contacts, Qur’anic Journeys, and Interpretive…
Dr. Kristian Petersen 