This past April I had the pleasure of joining many wonderful scholars to explore the intersections of Islamic and Chinese civilizations in various forms. My presentation, “Approaching the Qur’an in China,” was thinking about some of the thematic topics and approaches that are found in Chinese translations of the Qur’an. The complete program is here.
I am heading to Southern Methodist University to give a lecture on the Qur’an in China on October 28th. The event is part of their Asian Studies Lecture Series. I very much appreciate the invitation from the Director of Asian Studies, Steven Lindquist. Here is what I will be talking about: This presentation explores the history of the Qur’an in…
View this post on Instagram Marshall Hodgson, The Venture of #Islam Vol. 1 A post shared by Kristian Petersen (@babakristian) on Aug 5, 2014 at 2:39pm PDT I am very excited to participate in the Islamicate Studies Symposium in honor of the 40th anniversary of Marshall Hodgson’s magistral work, The Venture of Islam. The event will be held…
I am giving a lecture on the Qur’an in China at the University of South Carolina on September 8th. The event is sponsored by the Center for Asian Studies, the Program in Islamic World Studies, and the Walker Institute of International and Area Studies. I appreciate the invitation from the Director of the Center of Asian Studies, Michael Gibbs Hill.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kristian Petersen (@babakristian) on Jun 18, 2014 at 9:59pm PDT View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kristian Petersen (@babakristian) on Jun 18, 2014 at 9:59pm PDT I am grateful to have a copy of Akiro Matsumoto’s 松本耿郎 new book of essays on the…
William Gourlay (@GourlayWill) wrote up a brief summary of an interesting documentary, Ashiq – The Last Troubadours, on the Sufi musicians of Xinjiang on his blog, The gypsy plays & the kurd dances. Unfortunately, the entire film isn’t available online and is only located in the University of California, Berkeley libraries. However, this beautiful clip above from the film reveals scenes…
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…
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,…
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 