Excited for the 2018 American Academy of Religion conference in Denver. I’ll be busy as usual this year but its always motivational to see smart friends and meet some new peers. If you want to track me down here are some likely places.

New Graduate Research in Islamic Studies

Saturday – 5:30 PM-7:00 PM, Convention Center-507

This will be a really interesting panel (I’m just moderator). Series of short overviews of research from advanced graduate students in Islamic studies. Panel includes Joshua Mugler, Georgetown University, Reyhan Durmaz, Brown University, Hadi Qazwini, University of Southern California, Ali Olomi, University of California, Irvine, Rebecca Faulkner, Princeton University. I’m sure these folks would appreciate some constructive feedback as they move into the final stages of their work so come support these junior scholars.

How to Get Published

Sunday – 5:30 PM-7:00 PM, Convention Center-Mile High 1D (Lower Level)

Returning to this conversation on publishing to talk about my book, Interpreting Islam in China, as part of the AAR Academy Series.

The Digital Turn in Islamic Studies: Implications for the Study of Religion

Sunday – 7:00 PM-9:00 PM, Convention Center-110 (Street Level)

Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu from George Mason University’s The Maydan initiative organized this exciting roundtable conversation. Along with Caleb Elfenbein, Grinnell College, Michael Pregill, and Atalia Omer, University of Notre Dame, we will discuss new opportunities and challenges with doing islamic Studies in digital spaces. Topics will include the award winning DH project Mapping Islamophobia, and the online platforms Mizan and Contending Modernities. I’ll be discussing podcasting but also the broader questions related to doing digital public facing work, which were at the heart of the co-written AAR Guidelines for Evaluating Digital Scholarship.

Study of Islam Unit Business Meeting

Monday – 11:00 AM-11:30 AM, Convention Center-Mile High 4C (Lower Level)

Come be heard for the future planning of the Study of Islam Unit sessions.

Wither Islam and Popular Culture?

Tuesday – 10:30 AM-12:00 PM, Convention Center-204 (Street Level)
Hussein Rashid and I organized a wonderful panel on Islam and popular culture. We are so lucky to have an amazing group of scholars joining us for a roundtable conversation. Sylvia Chan-Malik, Rutgers University, Christiane Gruber, University of Michigan, Kayla Renée Wheeler, Grand Valley State University, and Monica Miller, Lehigh University. Some of these reflections will end up in our co-edited volume the Bloomsbury Handbook of Islam and Popular Culture.

My contribution will be a meditation on the question: What ls This “Muslim” in Muslim Popular Culture? I reflect on how Stuart Hall’s work on popular culture (especially his essay “What is this ‘black’ in black popular culture?”) can aid us in thinking about Muslim cultural production.