Dr. Eman Abdelhadi to Speak at AIC Academic Lecture Forum

Our society is increasingly composed of multiple subcultures—ethnic, religious and political. How do these subcultural communities reproduce themselves across generations? Why are some more successful at this than others? Professor Abdelhadi’s current book project answers these questions using the case of second-generation immigrant Muslim Americans. I trace individuals’ relationships with Muslim communities across the life course, showing the ways in which attachment is gendered at individual, household and institutional levels.

My research speaks to my broader interest in how religion influences everyday life, including political and economic outcomes. I have investigated this question from multiple angles using mixed methods. One set of projects examines when, where and how religion matters for women’s participation in the public sphere through paid employment. Another set focuses on the relationship between religious orthodoxy and political conservatism in the United States. My research has been published in Social Forces, Socius, and other social science publications.

Shabana Mir is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of Undergraduate Studies. She teaches Islamic Studies, Gender Studies, Research Methods, Anthropology, Social Sciences, and Muslim American and Muslim World Literature. She is the author of the award-winning book Muslim American Women on Campus: Undergraduate Social Life and Identity, published by the University of North Carolina Press (2014). The book has received the Outstanding Book Award from the National Association for Ethnic Studies and the Critics’ Choice Award from the American Educational Studies Association (2014). Shabana taught at Millikin University, University of Southern California online, Oklahoma State University, Indiana University, Eastern Illinois University, and the International Islamic University (Islamabad). She received the Outstanding Dissertation Award for her doctoral dissertation from the American Anthropological Association’s Council on Anthropology and Education (2006). She conducted ethnographic fieldwork in the Washington, DC area, as Visiting Researcher at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University. She also has an M.A. in English Literature from Punjab University, Pakistan and an M.Phil. in Education from Cambridge University (U.K.). Dr. Mir has lived, studied, and taught in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Pakistan. She has worked as a curriculum designer, residence hall director, retreat leader, faculty development expert, and research consultant in a variety of settings. Shabana has written academic chapters, journal articles, children’s literature, a blog, and, of course, her book. She is an international public speaker on gender, religion, education, and politics. She speaks English, Urdu and Punjabi, and some Arabic and Farsi.