Continuing to Grow and Expand

2024 was another year of growth and expansion for the Muslim Voices Public Scholarship Project. IU’s African Studies Program joined in the supervision of our project along with the Center for the Study of Global Change (Global Center) and the Center for the Study of the Middle East.  

Our first event of the year was "State Department Public Diplomacy Initiatives Aimed at Muslim Communities," a presentation by the former U.S. Department of State Diplomat Dr. Craig Dicker in January. Dr. Dicker shared his experiences in various nations with significant Muslim populations and the diversity among them. Our Ramadan event involved hosting the “Native American and Indigenous Muslim Stories (NAIMS) Photo Exhibition” by the Institute for Social Policy Understanding (ISPU) until mid-April. At the grand opening, Dr. Saher Selod, the director of research at the ISPU and Ms. Alyssa Crain, one of the NAIMS project participants, joined us and shared details of the exhibition and their experiences with it. We ended the spring semester with a book launch for Dr. Rosemary Pennington’s new work: “Pop Islam: Seeing American Muslims in Popular Media.” Dr. Pennington is part of the founding team of the Muslim Voices Public Scholarship Project.  

In October, we invited Haroon Moghul, named twice as one of the most influential Muslims in the Americas by EqualityX, to host a conversation titled “E Pluribus Unum: American Muslims.” Later in October through early December, we met twice with students and members of the community for our very first book club to discuss “The Autobiography of Malcolm X.” Dr. Nana Amoah-Ramey from IU’s African Studies Program facilitated both discussions with her rich knowledge on the life of Malcom X. Finally, in November, we held a virtual book launch for Dr. Carol Ferrara who presented her debut book: “Muslim and Catholic Experiences of National Belonging in France.” 

Throughout the academic year the Muslim Voices Project also co-sponsored several events across campus including a lecture entitled, “Utilization of Manchu Archives in the Study of Qing History of Xinjiang,” an annual Friendsgiving Potluck organized by several Muslim-student-founded IU clubs, and re-exhibited the NAIMS portraits at the Inaugural Conference on Global Indigenous Studies from Multiple Perspectives as Ms. Petra Alsoofy from the ISPU came to our campus to present her project report.  

The Muslim Voices Blog is now even richer than before with topics varying from Muslim representation in the horror genre, Al-Mawlid Al-Nabi (celebration of Prophet Muhammad’s birthday) traditions from around the globe, journey to Hajj, to music from Syria and many more waiting to be read! Our social media presence grew to Threads and Spotify in addition to X, Facebook, and Instagram. We launched our newsletter where we feature a new language spoken in the Muslim world every month with their contribution to Islamic scholarship and several events focused on Islam and Muslims across our campus.  

Our success has only been achieved thanks to the generous co-sponsorship and unlimited support from Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, Islamic Studies Program, Dhar India Studies Program, Center for Religion and the Human, HLS Office of the Dean, Center for Religion and the Human, School of Education Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Institute for European Studies, South Asian and ASEAN Studies Program, Department of International Studies, Department of American Studies, Department of Religious Studies, the Media School, Indiana University Arts and Humanities Council, HLS Global Indigenous Studies Network, First Nations Educational and Cultural Center, and American Indian Studies Research Institute.  

Thank you everyone for your continued support of the Muslim Voices Public Scholarship Project. We look forward to growing even more in 2025!