Islam in Higher Education

Abstract

Since 9/11, there has been a remarkable growth in the study of Islam in
higher education. Whereas a decade earlier many universities were eager to
close down or at best amalgamate their Islamic studies programs into larger
departments, there is now an urgency on the part of academic administrators
to begin teaching about and encouraging research on Islam. Not only
is there a demand from students, but there is also an understanding that
Islam, as a religion and a social force, will continue to have an impact on
global and domestic realities for the foreseeable future. However, there has
been little discussion about how to approach the study of Islam, given the
current political climate.
The Islam in Higher Education conference, organized by the
Association of Muslim Social Scientists UK (AMSS-UK) in conjunction
with the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations
(CSIC) at the University of Birmingham and the Higher Education
Academy Subject Centre for Philosophical and Religious Studies, was held
on 29-30 January 2005. It encouraged participants to engage in a critical
analysis and dialogue concerning the status of the study of Islam in higher
education, employability and recruitment, academic standards and pedagogy,
the depiction of Islam and Muslims in higher education, and comparative
international approaches to Islam in higher education.
In opening the conference, CSIC’s Bustami Khir, senior lecturer in
Islamic studies, spoke of the critical role that such events could play in
shaping the future of the study of Islam and Muslims in the United
Kingdom. Michael Clarke (vice principal, University of Birmingham) discussed
the city as a historical space of interaction between religion and
modernity in an industrializing world. He added that with over 140,000
Muslims residing in the city, Birmingham was set to become the first
majority non-white city in the United Kingdom and that the city could not
be understood without reference to its faith communities ...