Somewhere Between Islam and Judaism - Critical Reflections - Aaron W. Hughes
1. The Current State of Islamic Studies
Somewhere Between Islam and Judaism - Critical Reflections - Aaron W. Hughes
Aaron W. Hughes [+]
University of Rochester
Aaron W. Hughes is the Dean’s Professor of the Humanities and the Philip S. Bernstein Professor in the Department of Religion and Classics at the University of Rochester. His research and publications focus on both Jewish philosophy and Islamic Studies. He has authored numerous books, including Situating Islam: The Past and Future of an Academic Discipline (Equinox, 2007); Theorizing Islam: Disciplinary Deconstruction and Reconstruction (Equinox, 2012); Muslim Identities: An Introduction to Islam (Columbia, 2012); and Abrahamic Religions: On the Uses and Abuses of History (Oxford, 2012). He currently serves as the editor of the journal Method and Theory in the Study of Religion.
Description
Chapter 1, The Current State of Islamic Studies, is based on a lecture I gave at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations at the Aga Khan University in London. The organizers had asked me to give a lecture wherein I would reflect on the ways that my trilogy of books—Situating Islam, Theorizing Islam, and Islam and the Tyranny of Authenticity (two of which were published with Equinox) have helped to shape the field of Islamic studies today. The lecture (and now chapter) examines the reception of my work in the field, analyses its impact, and shows what has changed and what has stayed the same.