Workshop Co-Organizers/Facilitators: SherAli Tareen (Franklin & Marshall College) and Ermin Sinanović (IIIT)
(Saturday April 28, 2018) Herndon, VA
Workshop Description and Purpose
The 2018 IIIT Workshop in Islamic Studies Pedagogy will bring together pre-tenure scholars of Islam (post PhD but not yet tenured) and tenured faculty mentors for a candid, substantive, and meaningful conversation on various pedagogical and professional challenges of being a pre-tenure scholar of Islam in North American colleges and universities. We imagine this workshop as a collaborative platform that will generate important conversations and possible breakthroughs on pressing challenges of pedagogy, research, and professional life as a pre-tenure scholar of Islam.
The workshop will strive to engage the following pertinent topics:
- Pedagogy of teaching Islam 101
- Using effective pedagogical tools and techniques in teaching courses on Islam
- Designing and teaching courses on Islam in increasingly diverse and at times conflicting undergraduate classrooms
- Navigating difficult questions concerning anti-Muslim stereotypes, liberal Islamophilia, gender, race, the Israel-Palestine conflict etc. in teaching as well in negotiating professional life as untenured scholars of Islam on college campuses
- Balancing and negotiating personal research and teaching with the public projections and responsibilities that come with being a scholar of Islam
- Addressing specific challenges associated with being a female scholar of Islam with respect to research, teaching, and both formal and informal advising.
- Tackling obstacles posed by academic norms of socialization, such as in academic conferences, for many Muslim scholars of Islam
These issues are much discussed, debated, and talked about in private conversations and hallways but rarely in the form of a systematic, formal, yet candid fashion. In addition to generating an important and much needed dialogue, we also hope to build a community and network of scholars to serve as a peer support group for many years to come. The format of the workshop will be largely interactive with a mix of individual reflections, presentation of teaching tactics, group discussions and exercises, and faculty mentor-led sessions.
Faculty Mentors
Dr. Maria Dakake (George Mason University)
Dr. Kelly Pemberton (George Washington University)
Applicant Prerequisites
- Applicants must have attained their PhD
- Applicants must NOT yet be tenured
- Applicants must primarily specialize in and teach Islam and Muslim societies
- Both tenure track and non-tenure track/contingent faculty will be equally considered
- Applicants must be affiliated with an institution in North America
Applicants from all disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences, broadly conceived, will be considered.