Category Archives: Islamophobia

CUNY talk on Islam in Digital Humanities

Anthropology/Sociology, Conferences and Talks, CyberOrient, Folklore and Proverbs, Islamophobia, Yemen


Traditional Plow Agriculture in highland Yemen, for which there are many proverbs

When “Being There” is Here: An Anthropologist at Large in Digital Humanities

On Wednesday, March 5, I will be giving a talk at the CUNY Graduate Center for the Program on Religion, directed by Prof. Bryan Turner. Lunch will be served, and coffee too, of course. The talk will be in room 5307 of the Graduate Center at 34th St. and 5th Avenue, 12.30-2 (lunch served from 12.15), to discuss a topic pertinent to many disciplines.

Abstract:

The aim of this talk is to explore the role of traditional field-based ethnography in the rapidly evolving world of digital humanities. I look back on my original ethnographic fieldwork in Yemen in 1978-79, before there was an Internet or laptop computer. While technology has long been an important resource for anthropologists, the digital world allows for instantaneous contact in a way never available before. There is now a role for e-ethnography, analysis of representation and communication in cyberspace in which the field literally comes to the computer of the researcher. The talk will explore the implications of recent advances in the digital humanities on the nature and future of anthropological research.

Daniel Martin Varisco is President of the American Institute for Yemeni Studies. He is the founding editor of CyberOrient, an online journal co-sponsored by the American Anthropological Association and Charles University in Prague. His last book was Reading Orientalism: Said and the Unsaid (2007) and he is currently finishing a book titled Culture Still Matters: Notes from the Field.

Islamophobia in the Russian Federation

Islam in Europe, Islamophobia


The domes of a Russian Orthodox church (right) share the skyline of Kazan, Tatarstan’s capital, with the minarets of a Muslim mosque, a reminder of the city’s history of peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims. Corey Flintoff/NPR

The current conflict over Russian involvement in the Ukraine overshadows the extent of Islamophobia in Russia. For a recent article (“Cycles of Violence: Dangers of Islamophobia in the Russian Federation”) on this in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, click here. The article is by Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, a Research Professor in the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and Eastern European Studies (CERES) and the Department of Anthropology at Georgetown University.

Europe and the Challenge of Islam

Conferences and Talks, Islam in Europe, Islamophobia, Literature, Orientalism

by Anouar Majid, Tingitana, March 1, 2014

With the intriguing illustration above, Afternposten, the largest Norwegian newspaper, published my article titled “Europe and the Challenge of Islam.” This is the opening salvo of a three-day event called Saladin Days that starts Monday in Oslo’s House of Literature, when I will give a keynote address by the same title. We will, in the course of the conference, discuss and debate issues related to religion, secularism and reflect critically on the legacy of Edward Said, the great literary and cultural theorist.

Anti-Muslim Sentiment Rising in the U.S: What Is Happening to Religious Tolerance?

"Arab Spring", Anthropology/Sociology, Islam and Christianity, Islam in America, Islamophobia

by Charles Kurzman, ISLAMiCommentary, February 13, 2014:

Islamic terrorism has proved to be a relatively small threat to public safety in America since 9/11. Isolated individuals have engaged in sporadic violence such as the Boston Marathon bombings, but radicalization has remained far more limited than security officials feared. A report issued this month by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security shows that the number of Muslim-American terrorism suspects and perpetrators remained low in 2013.

Yet American attitudes toward Muslim-Americans have grown more negative in recent years. Eight surveys since 9/11, most of them conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, have asked random samples of adult Americans whether they have a “favorable” or “unfavorable” view of Muslim-Americans. As shown in the top graph, the proportion answering “unfavorable” has increased over time: before 2006, all five surveys found “unfavorable” rates of 26 percent or lower; in the four surveys between 2006 and 2012, only one found “unfavorable” rates that low.

These numbers are still considerably less than positive responses, but they suggest that a growing segment of the American population is willing to express negative views about Muslim-Americans in recent years. Continue reading Anti-Muslim Sentiment Rising in the U.S: What Is Happening to Religious Tolerance? →

Islamophobia on the Internet

CyberOrient, Islamophobia, Islamophobia 101

Islamophobia on the Internet: The growth of online hate targeting Muslims

On International Human Rights Day, December 10th 2013, the Online Hate Prevention Institute (OHPI) have released a major new report into the growing problem of online hate targeting the Muslim community. The full report, titled ‘Islamophobia on the Internet: The growth of online hate targeting Muslims’, is available below as a free download.

The report examines anti-Muslim hate on Facebook and was produced by the Online Hate Prevention Institute, Australia’s only charity entirely dedicated to the growing problem of online hate. We thank the Islamic Council of Victoria, the peak body representing Victoria’s Muslim community, who we consulted regularly in the preparation of this report. The report follows previous major works by OHPI examining online hate against Indigenous Australians, the Jewish Community, and the ANZACs and Military Veterans. Continue reading Islamophobia on the Internet →