Virtual: What Does Race Have to Do with Religion? Racialization and Worldwide Islam

18th Annual Duke-UNC Middle East and Islamic Studies Graduate Student Conference

Join the Islamicate Graduate Student Association for the 18th Annual Duke-UNC Conference, one of the longest running graduate student Middle East & Islamic Studies conferences in the U.S. This year’s conference, “What Does Race Have to Do with Religion? Racialization and Worldwide Islam” will be held online via a live video broadcasting platform on Saturday and Sunday, February 20-21, 2021. This year’s panels include an exciting line up of graduate student research, artists showcasing their work, and a keynote speech by Dr. Zareena Grewal.

Saturday, February 20

Welcome | 10:00-10:05 a.m.
Panel 1: Identify Formations and in Formation | 10:05-11:35 a.m.

– Discussant: Cemil Aydin, UNC Chapel Hill

– Poem: The Bright Country, Kimathi Muiruri

– Ibrahim Bechrouri

– Mixed Media: Westoxification (2020), Sarah Hakani

Break | 11:35 – 11:45 a.m.

Artist Presentations | 11:34 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.

Break | 12:45 – 1:00 p.m. 

– Keynote: Dr. Zareena Grewal | 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.

– Reading: Muslims: Race, Islam and US Empire

Sunday, February 21

Welcome | 11:00 – 11:05 a.m.
Panel 2: Social Conflict and Resistance | 11:05 a.m. – 12:35 p.m.

– Convergences of Indigenous, Black and Muslim Struggles From a Decolonial Racial and Spiritual Social Justice Perspective, Mohamed Abdou

– Implications of Racialization: Identify Conflict, Muslim-Americans Epistemologies, and Agency, Meena Naik

– Why are Black Muslim Students Leaving the MSA (Muslim Students Association)?, Nisa Muhammad

Break | 12:35 – 12:45 p.m.

Panel 3: Histories of Racialization | 12:45 – 2:15 p.m.

– Discussant: Youssef Carter, UNC Chapel Hill

– Narrating Muslim Histories in Nineteenth-Century North India, Mohsin Ali

– Becoming a Moor, Mahdi Blaine

– Color Me Muslim: “Signification” and Religious Identity in the African American Muslim Community, Nathan Lean

Registration required in advance.