Islamic Studies Past, Present, and Futures Workshop

The Department for the Study of Religion's Amira Mittermaier discusses her book God, Anthropology, Islam. Email to receive the paper in advance.   

A new collaborative research workshop with two major goals: 1) to provide a space for researchers to gain constructive feedback on their written works in progress, and 2) to build academic community across disciplines of Islamic studies (e.g., history, anthropology, sociology) and levels (graduate students, postdocs, and faculty) at the University of Toronto and forge ongoing scholarly and professional ties.

The workshop revolves around a draft manuscript (e.g., an article or book/dissertation chapter) distributed to participants to read in advance of the session. The sessions are informal but focused group discussions of the paper in the spirit of helping the author and constructive academic discussion more broadly. To that end, participants are strongly encouraged to attend regularly to foster a strong group dynamic. 

Workshop Format:

• The workshop will occur approximately five times per semester, focusing on one pre-distributed paper per session. Each session will last for 60-90 minutes.
• Presenters will submit a polished draft for the organizer to distribute to participants one week in advance of the workshop. The presenter may include an introductory note to participants with their draft.
• Workshop participants should read the paper in advance so that the conversation focuses on constructive feedback. One “first respondent” among the participants is pre-assigned to begin the conversation.
• The session itself proceeds informally:
•  The presenter may make brief opening comments if they wish to situate their work in the context of a larger project and/or discuss ongoing challenges of the paper (approximately 5 minutes).
•  The first respondent starts the discussion with questions and comments (approximately 5 minutes).
•  Thereafter, the session should flow freely with participants providing feedback in conversation with the presenter, who is free to respond to questions and comments as desired and to pose their own questions to the group. 

→ Registration