Events
- Date:
- Monday, 25 Jan 2021
- Time:
- 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
- Location:
- ONLINE
- Department:
- Muslim Studies Program

Muslim Women Jurists: Marinid Morocco as a Case Study
Rosemary Admiral, PhD
Assistant Professor of History
The University of Texas at Dallas
Women today have complex relationships with Islamic law. I wanted to see how these relationships mapped onto the past, particularly in the case of North Africa. My research found women engaging with the law in creative and strategic ways, not only through the courts but also by way of a number of less-formal community spaces that they carved out for themselves.
Register in advance for this meeting:

- Date:
- Thursday, 04 Feb 2021
- Time:
- 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
- Location:
- Online
- Department:
- Muslim Studies Program

Arabia Before Islam
Thursday, February 4, 7:00 pm
Webinar lecture by Ahmad Al-Jallad
Sofia Chair in Arabic Studies
& Associate Professor
Ohio State University
Thursday, February 4, 7pm (tentative)
Ahmad Al-Jallad is a philologist, epigraphist, and historian of language. His work focuses on the languages and writing systems of pre-Islamic Arabia and the ancient Near East.
His latest book explores Arabic's transformation as it crosses the pre-Islam – Islam divide: "Damascus Psalm Fragment: Middle Arabic and the Legacy of Old Higazi"
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://msu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DOGDctIqSX6UvJwedb-adg
- Date:
- Friday, 12 Feb 2021
- Time:
- 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Location:
- online
- Department:
- Muslim Studies Program

Picturing Atrocity: Visual Representations of ISIS in Arabic Political Cartoons
Sadam Issa, Professor of Arabic
Friday, February 12, 2021, 4:00 PM
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://msu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9x1pbzqOR2W7WJqEO8oMfQ
- Date:
- Thursday, 18 Feb 2021
- Time:
- 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
- Location:
- ONLINE
- Department:
- Muslim Studies Program

MUSLIM JOURNEY BOOK DISCUSSION - Laury Silvers
'The Lover: A Sufi Mystery'
Zaytuna just wants to be left alone to her ascetic practices and nurse her dark view of the world. But when an impoverished servant girl she barely knows comes and begs her to bring some justice to the death of a local boy, she is forced to face the suffering of the most vulnerable in Baghdad and the emotional and mystical legacy of her mother, a famed ecstatic whose love for God eclipsed everything. The Lover is a historically sensitive mystery that introduces us to the world of medieval Baghdad and the lives of the great Sufi mystics, washerwomen, Hadith scholars, tavern owners, slaves, corpsewashers, police, and children indentured to serve in the homes of the wealthy. It asks what it means to have family when you have nearly no one left, what it takes to love and be loved by those who have stuck by you, and how one can come to love God and everything He's done to you.
Register in advance for this book discussion:
https://bookings.lib.msu.edu/event/7318726
- Date:
- Thursday, 25 Feb 2021
- Time:
- 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
- Location:
- ONLINE
- Department:
- Muslim Studies Program

Sean Anthony - The Historical Muhammad
Sean W. Anthony is a historian of early Islamic history and Arabic literature. After receiving his doctorate from the University of Chicago in 2009, Anthony taught at the University of Oregon (Eugene) and the Ohio State University, where he is currently professor of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures.
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://msu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__VVeKOkNSvqhGsUdx8f1DA
- Date:
- Wednesday, 03 Mar 2021
- Time:
- 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
- Location:
- Department:
- Muslim Studies Program

by Malika Gharib, Muslim Journeys Book Club
graphic novel in association with
Michigan State University Comics Forum
I Was Their American Dream is at once a coming-of-age story and a reminder of the thousands of immigrants who come to America in search for a better life for themselves and their children. The daughter of parents with unfulfilled dreams themselves, Malaka navigated her childhood chasing her parents' ideals, learning to code-switch between her family's Filipino and Egyptian customs, adapting to white culture to fit in, crushing on skater boys, and trying to understand the tension between holding onto cultural values and trying to be an all-American kid. Malaka Gharib's triumphant graphic memoir brings to life her teenage antics and illuminates earnest questions about identity and culture, while providing thoughtful insight into the lives of modern immigrants and the generation of millennial children they raised. Malaka's story is a heartfelt tribute to the American immigrants who have invested their future in the promise of the American dream.
Registration link coming soon.
Please register in advance:
- Date:
- Wednesday, 17 Mar 2021
- Time:
- 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
- Location:
- Online
- Department:
- Muslim Studies Program

Please register in advance for this book discussion:
https://msu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_j9d8UHkWT5-d7hhzbmmSDw

- Date:
- Tuesday, 23 Mar 2021
- Time:
- 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
- Location:
- Online
- Department:
- Muslim Studies Program

by Lesley Hazleton
Muslim Journeys Book Club
lecture by Dustin Byrd
Associate Professor of Humanities
Olivet College
Muhammad's was a life of almost unparalleled historical importance; yet for all the iconic power of his name, the intensely dramatic story of the prophet of Islam is not well known. In The First Muslim, Lesley Hazleton brings him vibrantly to life. Drawing on early eyewitness sources and on history, politics, religion, and psychology, she renders him as a man in full, in all his complexity and vitality. Impeccably researched and thrillingly readable, Hazleton's narrative creates vivid insight into a man navigating between idealism and pragmatism, faith and politics, nonviolence and violence, rejection and acclaim. The First Muslim illuminates not only an immensely significant figure but his lastingly relevant legacy.
This event will feature a short presentation from Dr. Dustin Byrd (MSU Department of Religious Studies), followed by small group discussions of the book led by graduate students and question and answer time with the author. Free and open to the public. Presented by MSU Muslim Studies Program and MSU Libraries. Co-sponsored by East Lansing Public Library.
Please register in advance for this book discussion:
https://bookings.lib.msu.edu/event/7371460
- Date:
- Thursday, 01 Apr 2021
- Time:
- 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
- Location:
- ONLINE
- Department:
- Muslim Studies Program

2021 Muslim Studies Program Student Research Showcase
- Date:
- Thursday, 08 Apr 2021
- Time:
- 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
- Location:
- ONLINE
- Department:
- Muslim Studies Program

Muslim Studies Program 14th Annual Conference
April 8-9, 2021
Global Islamophobia and the News Media, Entertainment Media, and Social Media
Michigan State University is hosting an international conference on Global Islamophobia and the News Media, Entertainment Media, and Social Media. This conference will present work related to Muslim portrayals in the media (e.g., news, entertainment, social media) and evaluate how Islamophobia manifests on these platforms.
Significance of theme: The media is an important conduit for conveying messages to the public, shaping public attitudes, influencing the national discourse, and generating stereotypes. Past research suggests the ways in which outgroups are represented in the media impacts the public's perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors toward them, as well as shaping support for policies that harm members of these outgroups. Scholarship is only now beginning to extend this line of research to Muslims, and to specifically explore how the media is shaping discrimination against Muslims globally. . For instance, Muslims are increasingly occupying a more prominent role in the American cable news media. For instance, they were mentioned in 28.46% of all CNN broadcasts, 31.53% of FOX broadcasts, and 41.65% of MSNBC broadcasts in 2016. This conference will invite panelists to present work related to Muslim portrayals in the media (e.g., news, entertainment, social media) and evaluate its effects either on publics or on Muslims themselves.
Panelists from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds—including, among other possibilities, computer science, sociology, anthropology, religious studies, political science, communication, media studies, and psychology—will be invited to apply to attend and present their research on Islamophobia in the news media, entertainment media, and on social media. By bringing together leading scholars who study how Islamophobia manifests on each of these platforms, we will develop a more comprehensive understanding of the pervasiveness of anti-Muslim sentiment, measure its effects, and develop recommendations to address it. The conference will build a mentoring network of scholars interested in Muslims, leading to stronger future data collection and research efforts, and will help underrepresented members of the profession (including women and people of color) to succeed in their scholarship.
Conference format: The two-day conference will take place on April 8-9 and will include a networking dinner, panels, posters, and a keynote. The precise format will be announced at a later date.