Conceptions of Islam - a ph. d. course

One of the most important as well as problematic issues in today’s societies is how to relate to, and conceive of, Islam. Rejecting an essentialist conception of Islam as a “given”, the need is still there to define parameters for a reasonable understanding of what “Islam” may mean, in particular in a world of changing social relations and increasing globalization of discourses, interacting with local conditions and conceptions, both “there” in the Muslim world and “here” in the West.

This seminar / Ph.D. course will take up various facets of how Islam is understood to try to delineate ways of conceiving Muslim experiences as well as modern undertandings of what it means to be “Muslim”. Two main themes will be dealt with, Islam and Feminism, and Interpretations of Islam today. The two themes are interlinked, but still each will have a special focus of its own.

"Conceptions of Islam" consits of two parts, namely a Ph.D course and a seminar.

1. The Ph.D course is open to Ph.D. students in Norway as well as abroad. All Ph.D student participants will be expected to present a paper at the workshops, related to his or her project, which will be discussed by a teacher as well as by the fellow course participants and supervisors present.

2. The seminar part will consist of lectures by a number of invited scholars and workshops. The lectures will be open for all interested.



INVITED SPEAKERS:

Ziba Mir-Hosseini, SOAS, London

Salwa Ismail, University of Exeter

Nacira Guenif-Souilamas, Université Paris-XIII ­ GREC

Schirin Amir-Moazami, Berlin and Frankfurt/Oder

Maleiha Malik, King’s College, London

Sarah Bracke, Universitet Utrecht

Christine Jacobsen, University of Bergen



Organisers:
- Ph. D. School for Middle Eastern Studies/Centre for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Bergen
- Centre for Women’s and Gender Research (SKOK), University of Bergen
- IMER, International Migration & Ethnic Relations Research Unit, University of Bergen
- Ph. D. Program for Asian and African Studies/Dept of Cultural Studies and Oriental Languages, University of Oslo
- Dept of Archaeology and Religious Studies, Norwegian Technical University in Trondheim