It’s been a great privilege to work on the Introductions to Digital Humanities: Religion book series with de Gruyter. The series Editorial Board is a wonderful group of scholars pushing the boundaries of the academic study of religion in innovative ways, with Claire Clivaz (University of Lausanne), Charles Ess (University of Oslo), Gregory Price Grieve (University of North…
I recently reviewed Nancy Shatzman Steinhardt, China’s Early Mosques (Edinburgh University Press, 2015) for Religious Studies Review. Here is a sneak peak: The greatest strength is Steinhardt’s ability to bring her expertise in Chinese architecture to the Islamic domain. Chinese buildings share fundamental principles that govern placement and aesthetic construction, such as courtyards, gates, purposeful orientation in direction,…
I recently reviewed Kyle Conway, Little Mosque on the Prairie and the Paradoxes of Cultural Translation (University of Toronto Press, 2017) for the AAR’s Reading Religion. Here is a sneak peak: Altogether, Conway provides a great deal for the scholar of religion. His detailed focus on modes of production, distribution, and consumption serve as an effective model…
Description In the past few years, a number of books related to Islam and popular culture have been published demonstrating both the expansion of our collective research and the growing interest in the subject by broader audiences. We are currently seeking papers for a peer-reviewed edited volume, The Bloomsbury Handbook of Islam and Popular Culture,…
My essay “Hollywood Muslims in Iraq” was recently published in the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture (29.2). The argument developed from a presentation I first made at the International Conference on Religion & Film in Istanbul (2015). Here is the abstract: This essay explores how Muslims are represented in the two most successful Iraq War films, American Sniper (2014,…
The American Academy of Religion recently put together a Publishing Task Force, of which I am part. Our task has been to think about the AAR’s role in promoting scholarship and publishing among its membership. They recognize the changing terrain of academic scholarship so a sub-group of the task force focused on producing draft of guidelines for…
My book Interpreting Islam in China: Pilgrimage, Scripture, and Language in the Han Kitab is now available for order or preview. Check it out over at OUP Take a look on Google Books…
Jack Shaheen (1935-2017), pioneer in the study of Muslims in film and television, recently passed away. Maydan, the online publication of Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University, recently gave me the opportunity to reflect on his legacy and the future of this emerging field of study. There is a lot to say…
A second review of Islamic Thought in China: Sino-Muslim Intellectual Evolution in the 17th–21st Centuries just came out in Cross-Currents: East Asian History and Culture Review. Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, Professor at New York University, and author of The Dao of Muhammad: A Cultural History of Muslims in Late Imperial China (Harvard, 2005), provides a brief history of scholarship on…
My review of Mehdi Aminrazavi’s edited collection Sufism and American Literary Masters is now available for the Journal of Sufi Studies. Here is a preview: Overall, the collection is a success and provides a comprehensive and multi-pronged introduction to many of the major characters and key themes in the study of American literary engagement with Sufi texts…
Dr. Kristian Petersen 