Our Academic Organization’s 52nd Conference in 2023
52nd Annual Conference 2023
The 52nd Annual Conference of the
North American Association of Islamic
and Muslim Studies (NAAIMS)
"Creating Islamic Spaces and Places"
Thursday, October 19, 2023
A Virtual Conference on ZOOM platform
all Sessions held in Eastern Standard Time (UTC-05:00)
Cosponsored by:
Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture
Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
Program Chair: Professor Philip Goff
Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture
Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
Deadlines:
Abstracts: June 16, 2023
Final Papers: September 30, 2023
NAAIMS is seeking abstracts from professors and advanced Ph.D. candidates in the social sciences and humanities focusing on Islamic studies.
As the world’s second-largest religion, Islam shares many roots with other religions, especially Judaism and Christianity. For centuries it has valued sacred spaces in synagogues and churches. In a way, this mitigated tension and hostility in today’s all-too-often toxic political atmosphere. Yet Muslims continue to be racialized in what is broadly described as the “Western” world. This phenomenon materializes at best when Muslim figures operate in the public sphere or when they try to establish Islamic spaces in the form of sacred places of worship or cultural centers. This conference explores the importance of space and place-making to religious identity among Muslims living in North America.
We invite a diverse range of papers from professors and advanced Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences. Questions the papers might address include, but are not limited to the following:
- The Quest for Muslim Spaces and Places in Travelogue Literature
- How Migration and Trade Shape Muslim Experiences of Space & Place
- African Muslims Experience of Slavery in the USA
- Sharing Prayer Spaces in Synagogue, Churches and other Houses of Worship
- Creating Prayer Rooms in Airports Inside the USA
- Being an American Muslim Woman in the Workplace
- How White Muslim Men Converts are Stereotyped
- Converts and Questions of Authenticity and/or Shu ubiyya
- American Muslims in the Public Sphere
- American Muslim Political Figures and Public Office
- State Policies and Establishing Islamic Spaces Post 9/11
- Designing Buildings Influenced by Islamic Architecture Post 9/11
Call for Papers Overview:
Abstract Submission Instructions:
- Abstracts must include “Title of Presentation," Author’s full name and contact information,
University Position (Professor or Ph.D. Candidate), and name and address of university. - Abstracts from professors and advanced Ph.D. candidates ONLY.
- If a submission is co-authored, only one author can make the presentation, but co-authors will be listed on the abstract and in the program booklet.
- Abstracts are reviewed and evaluated by the Conference Program Committee.
- Abstracts must be submitted in MS Word (between 250-300 words) by June 16, 2023, to Layla Sein at conferences@naaims.org
- Although NAAIMS is a membership-based organization, NAAIMS membership is not a requirement to submit an abstract proposal.
- Online Pre-Registration is required by panelists. [ZOOM link will be sent to all participants to facilitate pre-registration process]
Judging Criteria for Abstracts:
All abstracts are evaluated by Conference Program Committee according to following criteria:
- Methodology: clear outline of theories, models or approaches
- Relevance of abstract to conference theme
- Main Argument of Paper: Its Contribution to Subject Matter
- Recommendations: Broad Implications Based on Research & Overall Findings
Conference Category: Panel Sessions
- This conference includes four panel sessions centered around annual theme: “Creating Islamic Spaces and Places.”
- Each session consists of 3 panelists and a discussant who also serves as the Panel Chair.
- Each panelist has 15 minutes for his/her presentation. At end of the 3 presentations, the discussant has 15 minutes for comments before floor is opened for a Q & A Session. The duration of each panel session is 90 minutes.
- The fact that there are only 4 panel sessions, panelists may participate in only one panel session.
- Notification of acceptance or rejection will be provided to individuals by June 31, 2023, following the Program Committee’s review of abstract submissions.
Final Papers:
- Papers are to be submitted to Layla Sein at conferences@naaims.org by September 30, 2023. A working paper with footnotes or endnotes is acceptable. There is no need to include a bibliography.
- NAAIMS does not publish or make conference papers available to conference attendees or the general public.
- Final Papers will ONLY be provided to the “panel discussant” of each respective panel session.
Panel Discussants:
Since discussants need adequate time to review and prepare their comments on the presentations, please submit final papers by September 30, 2023, which is at least two weeks before the event.
Conference Program
The North American Association of Islamic
and Muslim Studies (NAAIMS)
[Formerly the Association of Muslim Social
Scientists of North America (AMSS)]
"Creating Islamic Spaces and Places"
Thursday, October 19, 2023
Cosponsored By:
Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture
Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
A Virtual Conference on ZOOM Platform
All Sessions Held in Eastern Standard Time (UTC-05:00)
10:00 – 10:15 a.m. Welcoming and Introductory Remarks
Philip Goff, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN (Program Chair)
Mohammad H. Khalil, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI (NAAIMS Vice President)
10:15 - 11:45 a.m. Panel Session 1
Place-making at the Margins
Chair/Discussant: Alisa Perkins, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI
- Bouchra E. Mossmann (University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark): “Making the Arctic a Muslim Home: Strategies of Place-making in Northern Canada”
- Lucy Ballard (Harvard University, Cambridge, MA): “Feeling Islam in Detroit City: Prophetic Neighborliness and the Making of a ‘Real’ Islamic Place”
- Nazreen S. Bacchus (Farmingdale State College-State University of New York, SUNY): “Mobilizing for Islam: Community Organizing and Place-making in New York”
11:45 - 11:55 a.m. Break
11:55 a.m. 1:25 p.m. Panel Session 2
What is “Islamic Space?”
Chair/Discussant: Najib B. Hourani, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
- Omar M. Ramahi (University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada): “Is there such A thing as ‘Islamic Space?’ ”
- Hazem Ziada (Emory University, Atlanta, GA): “Space for Religious Experience: Contemporary Synthesis?”
- Salah D. Hassan (Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI): “A Paradoxical Place: The North American Mosque”
Lunch Break 1:25 - 2:55 p.m.
Keynote Address 2:55 - 3:55 p.m.
Keynote Speaker: Mahbub Rashid
Dean of School of Architecture and Design
The University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
“Notes on the Social Production of ‘Islamic Spaces and Places’ ”
3:55 - 5:25 p.m. Panel Session 3
Muslim Spaces in Secular Places
Chair/Discussant: Siti Sarah Muwahidah, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- Krista Melanie Riley (Vanier College, Montreal, Canada): “A Space Just for You: The Role of a Prayer Room for Muslim Students in a Quebec College”
- Sahver Kuzucuoglu (Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario, Canada): “Sufi Sounds: Creating Space Through Music, Poetry, Spirituality, and Social Cohesion”
- Rahimjon Abdugafurov (Macalester College, Saint Paul, MN): “Cultural and Institutional Dynamics: Shaping Uzbekistani Mosques in the United States”
5:25 – 5:35 p.m. Break
5:35 - 7:00 p.m. Panel Session 4
Internment/Interment
Chair/Discussant: Abdulkader Sinno, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
- Leila Tarakji (Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI): “Negotiating Muslim Identity and Occupying Empty Spaces in Samira Ahmed’s Internment”
- Sharmin Sadequee (University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada): “Secular Populism and Disputes Over Islamic Green Burial in the American Public Sphere”
- Muhammad Izzul Haq (McGill University, Quebec, Canada): “Marking New Face Creating New Space: The Establishment of a Refugee-Friendly Mosque”
7:00 p.m. Concluding Remarks, Program Chair
Conference Report
Creating Islamic Spaces and Places
The 52nd Annual (Virtual) Conference of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies (NAAIMS) focused on “Creating Islamic Spaces and Places.” It was cosponsored by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, University of Indiana, Indianapolis on October 19, 2023, under the direction of its Executive Director, Philip Goff, and Conference Program Chair. He welcomed the panelists and guests for their participation in the conference.
The conference consisted of four panel sessions. Panel Session 1 highlighted “Place-making at the Margins,” with Alisa Perkins, (Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI) serving as discussant. The first presentation which examined “Making the Arctic a Muslim Home: Strategies of Place-making in Northern Canada” was by Bouchra E. Mossmann (University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.)
Her paper focused on how the building of mosques in Northern Canada was driven by “wishes for rootedness, visibility and … the desire to feel at home.” She spoke about how the building of mosques was a “strategy” of place-making to help Muslims “feel at home … where Islamic ritual
practices are severely complicated by extreme changes in daylight.”
Mossman’s presentation raised questions about “religious authority and the interpretation of Islamic traditions” because of the “different ethnicities, generations, gender groups, and branches of Islam,” represented in the new Muslim communities. She stated that her focus on the study of Islam in rural and Northern Canada was “part of a bigger research effort titled The Arctic Muslim.” She identified early Muslim immigrants as being Arabs from Bilād ash-Shām who worked primarily as traders, trappers, and peddlers in the north. Her presentation drew on “data from local news outlets and social media to census data and fieldwork.”
According to the discussant, Alisa Perkins, Mossmann explored the difficulty associated with community building in a “sparsely populated Canadian landscape” especially since there was “already a concern for … establishing alliances for the Muslim newcomers [with Canada’s] Indigenous people ... and providing charity [and support] from food and clothes banks, which already serve the Indigenous community.”
The second presentation which focused on “Feeling Islam in Detroit City: Prophetic Neighborliness and the Making of a ‘Real’ Islamic Place” was given by Lucy Ballard (Harvard University, Cambridge, MA). In her presentation, Ballard explained how “DREAM of Detroit, a Muslim-led non-profit organization, is remaking a disinvested neighborhood once dismissed by the municipal government as a place of unsalvageable ruin.” Her presentation examines “what began as a limited home rehabilitation project has now expanded into a comprehensive vision for the entire neighborhood, anchored by the Muslim Center, an historic African American masjid, and powered by multiethnic Muslims from across the metropolitan region.” She examines how this project which is being “modeled as a new Medina” is “driven by the hope [of putting] Islamic values in proper practice