Islam as Black History

A conversation with Edward Curtis and Jamillah Karim around questions about Islam as Black History and why is it important to integrate the study of Black history and Islam. How does the study of gender challenge both Islamic and Black history? What role does Africa play in Islamic history? Why is it important for U.S. Muslims to study Black history? Edward Curtis is Millennium Chair of the Liberal Arts and Professor of Religious Studies at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. He is the author or editor of eight books, including The Call of Bilal: Islam in the African Diaspora (2014) and Muslims in America: A Short History, which was named one of the 100 best books of 2009 by Publishers Weekly. Curtis, who has been awarded Carnegie, Fulbright, NEH, and Mellon fellowships, is co-editor of the Journal of Africana Religions. Jamillah Karim is an award-winning author, lecturer, and blogger. Karim specializes in race, gender, and Islam in America. Her most recent academic appointment was as associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Spelman College, where she taught courses on the study of Islam for six years. She is the author of Women of the Nation: Between Black Protest and Sunni Islam (2014, with Dawn Marie-Gibson). She was recently highlighted as a young faith leader in the black community by JET magazine. Karim holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Duke University. This event was sponsored by Duke University's Department of African and African American Studies, the Franklin Humanities Institute, and the Duke Islamic Studies Center.