Funding research on transnational Islam: the ALTERUMMA project

Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Seminar Series 2017/18

• Speaker: Professor Oliver Scharbrodt (Birmingham)

 Tuesday 7 November 2017, 14:00-16:00 in ERI 224. All welcome!

This seminar will consists of two parts. In the first, Oliver will introduce the ALTERUMMA project, which investigates the transformation of Shia Islam in the Middle East and Europe since the 1950s. The project examines the formation of modern Shia communal identities and the role Shia clerical authorities and their transnational networks have played in their religio-political mobilisation. The volatile situation post-Arab Spring, the rise of militant movements such as ISIS and the sectarianisation of geopolitical conflicts in the Middle East have intensified efforts to forge distinct Shia communal identities and to conceive Shia Muslims as part of an alternative umma (Islamic community). The project focusses on Iran, Iraq and significant but unexplored diasporic links to Syria, Kuwait and Britain. The second part of the seminar will use this particular project, which is funded by a European Research Council grant, to discuss the process of applying for funding for research in Islamic Studies and Religious Studies more generally.