International Institute of Islamic Thought Pre-Tenure Faculty Workshop, 15-16 May 2017, USA

About the Pre-Tenure Faculty Workshop

The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) invites applications for its 2nd annual Pre-Tenure Faculty Workshop. The workshop is designed to provide a forum and support for pre-tenure faculty in Islamic Studies and related disciplines, and to help them navigate the straits of tenure-track and pre-tenure faculty life - both personally and professionally. This 2-day workshop will be held at IIIT office in Herndon, VA. The workshop will take place over two full days on May 15 and 16, 2017 (Monday and Tuesday). Participants are required to attend all sessions.

Faculty Mentors:      

            Prof. Jonathan Brown (Georgetown University)
            Prof. Maria Dakake (George Mason University)
            Prof. Walid Saleh (University of Toronto)

Workshop Description and Purpose: 

The IIIT Pre-Tenure Faculty Workshop will bring together pre-tenure scholars of Islam (post PhD but not yet tenured) and tenured faculty mentors for a candid, substantive, and meaningful conversation on various professional and pedagogical aspects and challenges of being a pre-tenure scholar of Islam in North American colleges and universities. We imagine this to be a workshop that generates important conversations and possible breakthroughs on pressing questions of navigating the academy as a pre-tenure scholar of Islam.

The workshop will strive to engage the following pertinent topics:

• Designing and teaching courses on Islam in increasingly diverse and at times conflicting undergraduate classrooms
• Navigating the questions of violence, race, the Israel-Palestine conflict and other controversial questions as untenured scholars on college campuses
• Balancing and negotiating personal research and teaching with the public projections and responsibilities that come with being a scholar of Islam in the post 9/11 context
• Addressing specific challenges associated with being a female scholar of Islam with respect to research, teaching, and both formal and informal advising
• Tackling obstacles posed by academic norms of socialization, such as in academic conferences, for many Muslim scholars of Islam

These issues are much discussed, debated, and talked about in private conversations and hallways but rarely in the form of a systematic, formal, yet candid fashion. In addition to generating an important and much needed dialogue, we also hope to build a community and network of scholars to serve as a peer support group for many years to come. The format of the workshop will be largely interactive with a mix of individual reflections, group discussions and exercises, and faculty mentor-led sessions.

Qur’an/tafsir and Hadith workshops:

A special feature of this year's program will be workshops on research methods and sources in the Qur'an and tafsir, as well as the Hadith studies. These workshops will hone research skills while also offering insights into building a research trajectory and profile. The workshops will be conducted by faculty mentors.

Research in Tafsir and Qur'anic Studies - Walid Saleh and Maria Dakake
Research in Hadith and Sunnah Studies - Jonathan Brown

Applicant Prerequisites:

1. Applicants must have attained their PhD
2. Applicants must NOT yet be tenured
3. Applicants must primarily specialize in and teach Islam and Muslim societies
4. Both tenure track and non-tenure track faculty will be considered
5. Applicants must be affiliated with an institution in North America

Applicants from all disciplines in the humanities and the social sciences, broadly conceived, will be considered.
 
Application: 

Applicants need to answer the following three queries:
 
1) Please write a 300 words essay that addresses the following questions: Why do you want to be part of this program, what do you think you will contribute to it, and how will you benefit from it? 
2) Describe in 300 words or less a moment or situation when your role as a junior faculty teaching Islam/Islamic studies posed some difficulty, anxiety, or conundrum? Explain the context and situation fully. What did you do and in what ways are you satisfied or dissatisfied with what you did?
3) Write a 70 word tweet answering/completing the following sentence “I am a scholar of Islam because….”

Applicants must also submit a 3 page maximum current academic CV. All components of the application should be included in a single PDF and emailed to submissions@iiit.org with the subject heading “IIIT Pre-Tenure Faculty Workshop 2017.”
 
Application Deadline: Wednesday, March 1, 2017. Applicants will be notified of results within two weeks of the application.

Travel and Accommodation: IIIT will cover travel costs and local hotel accommodation for all selected participants. Participants need to arrive to Herndon on May 14 and may leave in the late evening on May 16 or any time on May 17.

Workshop Themes and Topics of Conversation:  

• Navigating departmental and institutional geopolitics on controversial political questions as a pre-tenure scholar of Islam
• Being a Muslim academic and scholar of Islam in the post 9/11 context
• Race, Racism and Islam – in academia and in the study of Muslim histories
• Negotiating academic and personal faith commitments on North American college campuses
• Addressing student and faculty projections of being a spokesperson for Islam and Muslims
• Designing the Introduction of Islam classes in ways that resist Western/Non-Western binaries
• Planning field trips to mosques and other Muslim sacred spaces
• Teaching Islam courses to multifaith and multicultural classrooms
• Strategies for making the study of Islam more intricate for Muslim undergraduates
• Pre-tenure Muslims scholars and the politics of tenure
• Pre-tenure Muslim scholars and the Western academic social life/social dynamics at academic conferences

For more information please click "Further Official Information" below.

This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:

http://www.iiit.org/pre-tenure-faculty-workshop-guide.html