It’s that time of year again and I am excited to join colleagues and friends at the annual American Academy of Religion meeting. If you want to track me down here are some likely places:
New Horizons in Islamic Studies: Advanced Graduate Work Showcase
Hosting advanced graduate students for another year on this wonderful panel (I’m just moderator and/or respondent). Series of short overviews of research from students in Islamic studies. Panel includes Abiya Ahmed, Stanford University, Imran Muhammad Khan, University of Cambridge, Emma Thompson, Princeton University, Ryan Brizendine, Yale University, Sana Patel, University of Ottawa, Sawyer French, University of Chicago, and Rahim Samnani, McMaster University. This will be a great opportunity to give some constructive feedback to graduates students as they move into the final stages of their work so come support these junior scholars.
Muslimah’s Guide to Marriage (Film Screening and Panel Discussion)
Saturday – 8:00 PM-10:00 PM, Hilton Bayfront-Cobalt 501B (Fifth Level)
Muslimah’s Guide to Marriage (2016) is the story of Muslimah Mohammad, a young African-American Muslim woman from Inglewood, California. The narrative centers around the events during Muslimah’s Iddah (waiting period of separation), where in only one week her divorce from her husband Musa will be finalized and official. She wants to reconcile the marriage before its too late since she knows that divorce will have negative social consequences within her local Muslim community, and will be especially upsetting for her observant father. This humorous romantic comedy provides a unique vision of Black Muslim life in a South Central Los Angeles community. Writer and Director Aminah Bakeer Abdul-Jabbaar both disrupts stereotypical Hollywood images of Muslims and broadens the spectrum of Muslim American cultural production, which has largely set aside the experiences of Black Muslims. Panel discussion will follow the screening with the director, as well as Sylvia Chan-Malik, Rutgers University, Juliane Hammer, University of North Carolina, Roshan Iqbal, Agnes Scott College, and myself.
Study of Islam Unit Panels
As a steering committee member I will be running around to the various Study of Islam Unit panels to do some work. Co-chair Ilyse R. Morgenstein Fuerst has put together a helpful list of all the panels HERE.
Study of Islam Unit Business Meeting is immediately following the New Horizons in Islamic Studies panel starting around 11am. If you’re interested in adding your voice to the conversation please attend.
Dr. Kristian Petersen 