Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University

The Alwaleed Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University is dedicated to furthering the scholarly study of Islam and the Muslim world in a broadly interdisciplinary context and offers incomparable resources in its world-class faculty, extensive and multiple libraries, on-line resources, museums, area studies centers and research initiatives.

 

About

The Alwaleed Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University is dedicated to furthering the scholarly study of Islam and the Muslim world in a broadly interdisciplinary context and offers incomparable resources in its world-class faculty, extensive and multiple libraries, on-line resources, museums, area studies centers and research initiatives.

Through its College, graduate, and professional Schools, Harvard offers undergraduate and graduate coursework in arts and literature, art and architecture, anthropology and sociology, comparative literature, economics, environmental and developmental issues, geography, government and political science, history and the history of science, international relations, law, medieval studies, music, philosophy and the study of religion, and women, gender and sexuality studies. Area studies’ centers and programs provide outstanding programming and resources on Muslim cultures and societies from Europe and the West to sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Outside the classroom, AISP’s lectures series, conferences, workshops, arts performances and other events encourage an understanding of the broader Islamic world in its global and transnational context and advances interdisciplinary studies that are crossnational and comparative.  It seeks to promote the diffusion, exchange and discussion of a wide body of research, and to encourage interaction among academics—at Harvard and beyond—from various traditions of learning.

Central to its academic and scholarly objectives, the Alwaleed Program seeks to bridge gaps in understanding between the Muslim and non-Muslim worlds and ensure that Harvard’s capacity in Islamic Studies fully represents the depth of Islam’s rich historical and geographically diverse cultures.

Courses and Scholarship at Harvard that touches on Islam

Anthropology

(Mis)Understanding Islam Today

Middle East Ethnography: Discourse, Politics, and Culture

Diplomacy

Economics

Freshman Seminar

Aristotle’s Heirs: Greek and Roman Culture in Christianity and Islam

General Education

For the Love of God and His Prophet: Religion, Literature, and the Arts in Muslim Cultures

Government

History

Islamicate Societies to 1500

Ottoman State and Society II (1550-1920)

Syria: History, Politics, and Religion

History of Art and Architecture

Early Print Culture: Representations of the Islamic East

History of Science

Bodies in Flux: Medicine, Gender, and Sexuality in the Modern Middle East

International Relations

Law

Animals, Law and Religion Project

Islamic Law: Human Rights Advocacy in the Muslim World

Medieval Studies

At Cross Purposes: The Crusades in Material Culture

Near Eastern Languages

Faculty

The core faculty members of the Alwaleed Islamic Studies Program (AISP) come from academic departments and centers from across Harvard University. They are deeply involved with AISP activities, lecture widely and teach courses focused on the wider Islamic world. Some serve as members of AISP’s Steering Committee.

In addition to the core faculty, there are dozens of other faculty who teach and do research in subjects related to the global Islamic world from disciplines as diverse as arts & architecture and global health. While they are not as deeply rooted in the Program’s activities, these scholars play an integral role in promoting a broad, interdisciplinary understanding of Muslim societies and cultures. In an ongoing effort to deepen scholarly understanding of global and transnational Islam, and to better educate the public about Muslim cultures and societies, our faculty lecture widely and often in both academic and public settings.

Contact

Address: 8 Story Street, 1st Floor
Cambridge, MA 02138

Phone: Office: 617-495-3379
Fax: 617-800-0996

Email: islamicstudies@harvard.edu

Website: islamicstudies.harvard.edu/