The Plight of Threatened Afghan and Iranian Scholars and Students

In the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan religious ideas and laws seek to control all spheres of private and public life and state-sponsored restrictions hinder access to education and academic freedom for numerous citizens. The prevailing sedimented culture in both countries has resulted in the dismissal of many experienced scholarly personnel and an ensuing “brain drain.” This research project has cataloged some of the conditions that have impinge upon scholarly inquiry in Iran and Afghanistan and have led many scholars to leave their countries of birth. Based on an extensive literature review and personal interviews conducted, the report explores various aspects of the ecosystem that some displaced Iranian and Afghan scholars find themselves in

Islam and the Promenades of Global Media

This chapter addresses the following questions: Are new media strengthening a global Muslim identity? Or are they putting theology and jurisprudence deeper into the bounds of politics and the chaos of skepticism? Should Muslims have a dystopian vision of new media as a site of debauchery, or an optimistic view of media as the protagonist of a new type of esprit de corps? In recent times, the body of work on Muslims and media seems to have moved beyond past scholarship that dissected the Western voyeuristic gaze cast on Muslims to begin to look at how Muslim actors and groups are using media to achieve their own interests in a globalized economy transformed by communications technology. The vista is decidedly mixed. While savvy Muslim cybernauts have initiated an exciting voyage of discovery and expression, the more numerous members of the religious chattering class live confidently in their own information ghetto