The International Institute for the Study
of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) conducts and promotes
interdisciplinary research on social, political, cultural, and intellectual
trends and movements in contemporary Muslim societies and communities. ISIM
was established in 1998 by the University of Amsterdam, Leiden University, Utrecht University, and the Radboud University Nijmegen in response to a need for further research on contemporary
developments of great social, political and cultural importance in the Muslim
world from social science and humanities perspectives. ISIM's research
approaches are expressly interdisciplinary and comparative, covering a large
geographic range, which includes North Africa, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan
Africa, Central Asia, South and Southeast Asia, and Muslim communities in the
West. Broad in scope, ISIM brings together all areas of disciplinary expertise
in anthropology, sociology, religious studies, political science, and cultural
studies.
Special ISIM Chairs have been
created at the four participating universities. The chair holders lead the
various ISIM research programmes.
ISIM offers a range of fellowships within
these research programmes. A highlight of the ISIM calendar is the Annual
Lecture. Speakers so far have been Dale Eickelman,
Gudrun Krämer, Talal Asad, Barbara Metcalf, Serif Mardin, Abdulaziz Sachedina,
Lila Abu-Lughod and Juan Cole. Moreover, in order to further the
development of the library collection on the modern Muslim world, the ISIM
cooperates with the Leiden University
Library in which a
special ISIM section has been created.
Among
the publications of the ISIM are the ISIM
Review and the ISIM Papers Series. The ISIM
Review contains articles by researchers from all over the
world as well as ISIM and other academic news.The ISIM Papers
contain lectures by leading scholars at various
ISIM events. In addition to organizing academic meetings, the
ISIM has developed an outreach programme of public debates in conjunction with
various cultural institutions.