Please find below the schedule for upcoming reading group sessions held in Singapore and over Zoom. Members can facilitate meetings, propose reading materials and topics for group discussion. Readings will be emailed to members.
Upcoming Sessions
Friday, March 19, 2021 @ 4pm SGT (Zoom Session)
The Idea of the Muslim World: Antiquity or Novelty?
Is it a misconception to think that the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims constitute a single religio-political entity?
How did this belief arise, and why is it so widespread?
Cemil Aydin’s “The Idea of the Muslim World” searches for the intellectual origins of a mistaken notion and explains its enduring allure for non-Muslims and Muslims alike. We will discuss Cemil Aydin’s book “The Idea of the Muslim world: A global intellectual history”. We will focus on the Introduction and Chapter 1, and Chapter 6 is recommended but optional.
Friday, April 9, 2021 @ 4pm SGT (Zoom Session)
Islam and Secularism: A Critical Exploration of “Asadian” Genealogies of the Secular
We will explore Hadi Enayat’s assessment of the body of scholarship by Talal Asad and like-minded scholars that critiques secularism and liberalism as Western impositions on Muslim societies. The three themes we will engage with are: (1) Christianity, colonialism and imperialism (2) religious and secular criticism and Islam as a ‘discursive tradition’ (3) genealogies of religious freedom and minority rights.
Past Sessions
Wednesday, October 7, 2020 @ 7.30pm SGT (Zoom Session)
Critical Race Theory Workshop: Race, Racism and Social Justice in Singapore
This workshop introduces several key concepts of the body of work known as Critical Race Theory (CRT). We will explore the potential uses and limitations of CRT in the analysis of race, racism, and social justice in the Singaporean context. We will also discuss CRT in relation to specific socioeconomic issues in Singapore, which includes brown face and the Muslim headscarf ban for those working in frontline government services among other issues.
Monday, July 13, 2020 @ 4pm SGT (Zoom Session)
Conducting Qualitative Research During Covid-19: Ethical and Practical Considerations
What techniques can researchers use to collect data without face-to-face contact with participants?
What are the methodological advantages and disadvantages of such techniques?
What are the ethical considerations for researchers to keep in mind as they engage with participants?
Thursday, June 11, 2020 @ 4pm SGT (Zoom Session)
Interrogating Categories of Analysis When Studying Muslim Societies
Are concepts such as (in) tolerance trans-historical, neutral and universal?
How do we avoid reproducing Westernized forms of knowledge?
We will be discussing the concept of “tolerance” as used in Jeremy Menchik’s “Godly Nationalism in Indonesia” & Marcus Mietzner’s “The Myth of Pluralism within Indonesia’s Nahdlatul Ulama”.
Thursday, March 5, 2020 @ 7.30pm SGT
Muslimism in Turkey and Beyond: Religion in the Modern World by Neslihan Cevik
Pages 1 – 27
Discussion on the concept of Muslimism and its applicability in South-east Asia