Major Centers/Institutions of Islamic Studies PDF

Centers/Institutes of Islamic Studies in America andEurope 1Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada McGill University's Institute of Islamic Studies was founded, along with the Institute of...

Centers/Institutes of Islamic Studies in America andEurope 1Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada McGill University's Institute of Islamic Studies was founded, along with the Institute of Islamic Studies Library (ISL), in 1952 by Wilfred CantwellSmith. It is now part of the Faculty of Arts, with its main focus being the disciplined study of Islamic civilisation throughout the scope of its history and geographical spread. In its academic programmes, it gives attention to the origins of Islam, to the rise of the civilisation in which Islamic faith was the vivifying factor, to the forces which shaped the civilization, and the changes it has undergone. It is also concerned with the contemporary dynamics of the Islamic world as Muslims seek to relate their heritage from the past to the present. Courses, seminars and possibilities for research are offered in: Islamic languages (Arabic, Turkish, Persian and Urdu), in Islamic history, in the social and economic institutions of Islam, in Islamic thought, and in modern developments in various regions of the Islamic world. The work of the Institute is carried out as a joint effort, uniting Muslims and non-Muslims in an attempt to understand Islamic civilization. The teaching staff and students of the Institute include Muslims and non-Muslims from a variety of countries: Canada, U.S.A., France, Romania, Ukraine, Korea, Turkey, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Lebanon,Pakistan, Kenya, India, Tunis, etc. This strongly-international atmosphere at the Institute provides an opportunity for face-to face exchange among scholars at various levels. Frequently during the academic year, the Institute invites prominent scholars in the field of Islamic Studies to give lectures which are open to the public. Throughout its history, the Institute has provided a special outreach service that has brought students to the Institute from a number of African, Asian, and Middle Eastern countries. An important feature of such efforts has been the exchange of visiting professorsS, which has developed firm links with many important Muslim universities. These have been supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Aga Khan Foundation, and the Alavi Foundation, among others. The Islamic Studies Library (ISL) McGill University, Montreal, Canada has grown fron a modest departmental collection to one of the most important in the field, containing over 110,000volumes. The ISL is a research library, intended to be of primary use to collection can post-graduate students and faculty, with a reference section at its centre. The ISL's All three be divided into three major categories: printed, manuscript and audio-visual materials. categories consist of materials in European and Islamic languages: English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Russian, on the one hand, and Arabic, Persian, Turkish (Ottoman and modern), Urdu and Indonesian on the other. The collection is primarily a reflection of the academic interests of the Institute, and teaching and research in Qur'anic Exegesis, Tradition, and Modern Jurisprudence, Philosophy, Theology, Sufism, Shiite Thought, Historylanguages. Development in the Muslim world, as well as instruction in the various Islamic 2The Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, University ofOxford London was established in 1985 to is a recognized Independent Centre of the University of Oxford. It Prince of Wales is the encourage the scholarly study of Islam and the Islamic world. HRH the and statesmen Patron of the Centre. It is governed by aBoard of Trustees consisting of scholars Oxford. The from different parts of the world, alongside representatives of the University of Centre provides a meeting point for the Western and Islamic worlds of learning. At Oxford it contributes to the multi-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary study of the Islamic world. Beyond Oxford, its role is strengthened by a developing international network of academic contacts. 3 The Middle East Centre, Universityof Oxford, London is the centre for the interdisciplinary study of the modern Middle East in the University of Oxford. Centre Fellows teach and conduct research in the humanities and social sciences with direct reference to the Arab world, Iran, Israel and Turkey, with particular emphasis on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.The Centre was founded in 1957. The directorship was assumed the following year by the modern historian Albert Hourani, who was toplay adominant role in establishing Middle Eastern studies in Oxford. One of the first Fellows recruited to the Centre was Elizabeth Monroe who played an important role in establishing the Middle East Centre Archive in 1961. They were joined in 1961 by Geoffrey Lewis as Lecturer in Islamic studies and Turkish. 4 Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Exeter, UK The Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies (IAIS) constitutes a multi-disciplinary teaching and research unit offering research and taught degree programs in a wide range of areas within the field of Arab, Middle Eastern, and Islamic Studies. In recent years, the Institute has also extended its range of languages offered to include Persian and Kurdish, Exeter being the only institution in the UK where the latter is taught. A recent development has also seen the strengthening of Islamic Studies in the Institute covering almost every aspect of Islamic studies from medieval to modern Islam, and from Sufism and Islamic law to contemporary Islamic movements. This expansion in Islamic studies builds on already existing strengths in the study of the languages, literatures and cultures of the Arab World and other cultures of the Middle East, as wellas in the history, politics,economies, societies, and anthropology of the region. Through its Centre for Mediterranean Studies, the Institute looks beyond the confines of the Middle East to cultural and historical links with European countries sharing the Mediterranean coast with the Arab World. Not entirely unlinked to this are our research interests in Arab migration and Diasporas. As an integral part of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Institute offers its students at all levels of study an enormous opportunity to branch out into other disciplines and subjects of study, as are offered by its sister units within the School, namely the departments of History, Politics, Sociology and Philosophy, Classics and Ancient History, and Theology. Allthis places Exeter in the forefront of academic centers in the UK dedicated for the study of the Arabic-speaking World, Islam, and the Middle East at large. There is a thriving multi-cultural student community, all accommodated in the Institute's own dedicated building, built in 2001 to a distinctive architectural style evocative of the region studied. The purpose-built unit includes a highly equipped postgraduate study centre, a state-of the-art, digitised and web-ready language laboratory, as well as computing facilities for BA and MA students. The building also houses the Arab World Documentation Unit with its unique collection specialising among other things in collections devoted to the study of the Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf region. 5 The Prince Alwalecd Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies,Cambridge, London  The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies (CIS) was established in 2008 to replace the Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (CMEIS). CMEIS was founded in 1960 by Professor Arthur Arberry to foster an interest in the Middle East, particularly the modern Middle East, amongst Cambridge scholars, students and the general public, and to support research. The Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies played an active role in promoting Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies amongst academics and the public through lectures, seminars and conferences. The Centre also helped to establish and develop links between individuals and institutions with an interest in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. The Centre further encouraged communication between academics, the media and the public. The Centre's library collection is located within the Faculty Library and forms part of the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies teaching collection. Its holdings are distinguished holds by theira collection emphasis on the history, politics and economics of the modern Middle East. The library of journals, economic and political reports, newspapers received regularly from the Middle East and also a small closed archive containing the documents and photographic collection of Bertram Thomas who travelled in the Arabian Peninsula in the 1930's. The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies will build on these strengths to enable the development of a constructive and critical awareness of the role of Islam in wider society, initially through research programmes about Islam in the United Kingdom and Europe. High quality research and an energetic outreach programme to interact with policy-makers and wider society will therefore be high priorities for the new Centre. The Centre of Islamic Studies is supported by a generous donation from HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal 6 The Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) Harvard University Harvard was founded in 1954 for the purpose of furthering the study of the Middle East at University. This mandate features a primary emphasis on the centuries since the rise of Islam and and the a concern with the wider Islamic world. CMES serves Harvard as the c0ordinating body cover the vast primary source of support for the various courses and academic programs that region from Morocco and North Africa to Turkey and Iran. The Center is home to key faculty related to Middle Eastern Studies including: the Arabic Program, Turkish Studies, the Moroccan Studies Program, several ongoing research projects, and a Visiting Scholar program that brings scholars from around the world. The range of interests of our faculty, students, associates and visiting scholars is rich, varied, and crosses multiple disciplines. 7The Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES), University of California, Berkeley was founded in 1963 with amandate to promote excellence in Middle Eastern Studies on the Berkeley campus and beyond. The CMES facilitates the interdisciplinary study of the Middle East while recognizing the interconnectedness of its peoples and cultures to the wider global context in which it exists. The Center's programming encompasses the Arab World, Turkey. Israel, and Iran, yet no single country, topic, academic discipline, or political position dominates the landscape of Middle Eastern Studies at Berkeley. Rather, we are equally engaged and concerned with issues in contemporary Iran as we are with medieval Persian literature: with the impact of structural adjustments in Egypt and Turkey as with the history of the Ottoman Empire. In addition toour efforts to facilitate coverage of the Middle East in the University curricula, the CMES also organizes a wide variety of extra-curricular activities, including a rich interdisciplinary lecture and film series, faculty-driven colloquia and conferences, grant competitions, and severalpost-doctoral research programs. 8 Department of Near Eastern Studies University of California, Berkeley Instruction in the Department of Near Eastern Studies is concerned with the languages, literatures, and civilizations of the ancient, medieval, and modern Near East. The Department offers specialized training in Archaeology, Art History, Assyriology, Egyptology. Iranian Studies, Judaic and Islamic Studies, Comparative Semitics, Turkish, Hebrew, Arabic and Persian. For students from other disciplines, the Department offers a wide variety of courses to supplement such related fields as classics, linguistics, history, political science, comparative literature, anthropology, and art history. The Department strongly recommends that its own graduate students take advantage of courses in these other fields, provided that they are relevant to their fields of study. Credit for such courses will be recognized by the Department, subject to approval of the Adviser. Many of the Department's courses are restricted to a small number of students, thus affording an opportunityfor close contact with the instructing staff. The Department offers a comprehensive body of information on past and present Near Eastern civilizations; instruction is given in both language/literature and lecture courses. 9 Institute of Islamic Studies Free University Berlin The Institute of Islamic Studies Was established in 1948 as part of the newly founded Free University. From the beginning, the Islamic Studies understood in the context of discussions on social science. the political, economic and cultural emancipation of non-European countries as This meant putting the emphasis on modernity, but on the basis of a thorough examination of the classical Islam. 10The Institute Turkish studies Free University Berlin Under Turkish studies this institute takes up the science of languages, literatures, history, religions and the spiritual and material culture of the Turkic peoples, past and present. This is a Turkish studies. unique and one of only fewstudy centers in the west exclusively devoted to