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Centre for the Comparative Study of Muslim Societies and Cultures

The Centre for the Comparative Study of Muslim Societies and Cultures has been established at Simon Fraser University to encourage the academic discussion and public understanding of the cultures and societies of Muslim peoples in the past and present. The Centre works through a variety of programs to broaden the discussion of this important subject and to introduce more complexity and comparison in the analysis.

Muslim societies and cultures have increasingly become the focus of public and academic attention, although much of the discussion has centred narrowly on contemporary issues of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism. The variability and flexibility of Muslim practices and perspectives have not featured in this discourse, leaving the public largely unaware of complexities, achievements and challenges. The Centre has worked to redress this imbalance by broadening the discussion to introduce more comparison and complexity in the study of Muslim societies and cultures from Africa, through the Arab and Persianate world, and into Asia and the West. By focusing attention on Muslim (not Islamic) societies and cultures, the Centre has encouraged a shift in analysis from the notion of a single unitary religious ideascape defined by Islam to a more complex view of Muslims as agents in the construction of their own history.

The Centre works through a variety of programs to broaden the discussion of this important subject and to introduce more complexity and comparison in the analysis. In pursuit of this objective, the Centre has brought numerous academic specialists to campus for lectures and consultations; convened interdisciplinary conferences and workshops; established a highly-regarded summer school alternating between Vancouver and London (UK); organized film festivals, art exhibits, and concerts; created residencies, scholarships and visiting professorships; and solicited contributions of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish language material for the SFU research library.

Announcements

Saturday, Oct 5 - 1:30pm
No FREE In 1993, the influential American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington stirred serious debate world over by an article in Foreign...

Faculty in the News

Paul Sedra, Tahrir Squared: Pope Tawadros II and the Quest for Egyptian Sectarianism

Andre Gerolymatos, THE VANCOUVER SUN: YVR Tops Country in Seizures of Undeclared Cash by Zoe McKnight

Paul Sedra, Egypt Independent: The Siege of Egypt

Paul Sedra, Jadaliyya: The Dignity of Hamada Saber

Paul Sedra, Egypt Independent: The Tragedy of the Brotherhood

Andre Gerolymatos, Syrian peace envoy asks UN for help

Paul Sedra, Al Jazeera English interview

Paul Sedra, Jadaliyya: The Revolution and History

Paul Sedra, Egypt Independent: The Revolution Continues

Derryl MacLean, THE VANCOUVER SUN: Ethnic mix Among Muslims gives peae a chance by Douglas Todd.

Paul Sedra, Al Arabiya News: The Ethics of Electioneering

Andre Gerolymatos, News 1130: More Poolice and Cameras needed on the SkyTrain line

Paul Sedra, Canadian International Council (CIC): How to Lose Friends in the Middle East

Thomas Kuehn, New Publication: Empire, Islam, and Politics of Difference. Ottoman Rule in Yemen, 1849-1919