Identity, Politics and the Study of Islam - Current Dilemmas in the Study of Religions - Matt Sheedy
5. Jews, Jewish Studies, and the Study of Islam
Identity, Politics and the Study of Islam - Current Dilemmas in the Study of Religions - Matt Sheedy
Sarah Imhoff [+]
Indiana University
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Description
In the Americas, Jews have dominated Jewish Studies, but Muslims have made up a far smaller portion of Islamic Studies scholars. These seemingly opposite trends are deeply rooted in the histories of the fields. While Islamic Studies in America traces much of its history through Orientalism—non-Muslims studying Muslims and Islamic civilizations—the dominant narrative of Jewish Studies begins with Jews studying Judaism. Despite these different narratives, each field has confronted similar questions about scholars’ own identifications, epistemological debates about insiders and outsiders, political questions about minority identity and pluralism, and questions about the relationship between funding and scholarly research. This chapter explores the origin stories of Jewish Studies and the meanings for its’ past, and asks what these stories might suggest about Islamic Studies and its future.