As part of its Globalized Muslim World Lecture Series, the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh invites you to a special lecture by one of the world's most respected political scientists working in the field of contemporary Islam, Professor Peter Mandaville (George Mason University).

Lecture Overview

Over the past four decades, Muslim intellectuals and scholars living in the West have sought numerous times to create paradigms of religious thought and theology that reflect the specific circumstances of Muslim life in settings such as Europe and North America while still maintaining a connection to classical and traditional Islamic learning. By and large such efforts have failed to gain traction. This lecture will explore the intellectual history of such work in the context of an inter-generational sociology of Muslim communities in the West. Structured around issues of gender, shifting attitudes towards established ideological and theological trends in Islam, and the changing nature of religious authority in the age of social media, the talk will also assess future prospects for intellectual and theological innovation by Muslims in the West.

The lecture will be followed by a halal drinks and canapés reception.

About the Speaker

Peter Mandaville is Professor of International Affairs in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University, USA. From 2015-2016 he served as Senior Adviser in the Secretary of State’s Office of Religion & Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of State where he led that office’s work on ISIS and sectarian conflict in the Middle East. He has also been a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Pew Research Center.

From 2011-12 he served as a member of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Policy Planning Staff where he helped to shape the U.S. response to the Arab Uprisings. He is the author of the books Islam & Politics (2007) and Transnational Muslim Politics: Reimagining the Umma (2001) as well as many journal articles, book chapters, and op-ed/commentary pieces in outlets such as the International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, The Atlantic and Foreign Policy.

He has testified multiple times before the U.S. Congress on topics including political Islam and human rights in the Middle East. His research has been supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Henry Luce Foundation.

Click HERE to view Professor Mandaville's full profile on the GMU website. 

This public lecture is part of a major series of lectures by distinguished speakers from across the world who are all contributing to a major new book series entitled "Edinburgh Studies of the Globalized Muslim World" published by Edinburgh University Press in association with the Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World, University of Edinburgh. For more information about the series, click HERE.