Female Pervert

This is a film review of Film Pervert (2014), directed by Jiyoung Lee

Mediating Islam: Representation and Muslim Identity

This essay argues that there is a predominant media narrative that asserts that Islam is inherently violent, Muslims are foreign and dangerous, we should remain alert and suspicious, and policies or acts of aggression against them are therefore justifiable. Routinized replication of simplistic, patterned, and easily recognizable Muslim identities leads to real social consequences. I demonstrate the dynamics at work in constructing Muslim media identities through an investigation of recent incidents, including the Charlie Hebdo and Chapel Hill shootings, several anti-Muslim crimes, and the media declarations encircling these events. These types of events are best understood within a context where persistent seemingly transparent anti-Muslim bias is part of social life due to the production and circulation of recognized Muslim identities. Overall, I argue that “identity” is not fixed, essential, or natural, and, therefore, examining the processes of identification rather than identity will be the most productive

Across the Sea

This is a film review of Across the Sea (2015), directed by NIsan Dag and Esra Saydam

Birds of Neptune

This is a film review of Birds of Neptune (2015) directed by Stephen Richter

A Social History of Iranian Cinema

This is a book review of A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Volume 1: The Artisanal Era, 1897-1941 (Durham: Duke University Press, 2011); A Social History of Iranian Cinema , Volume 2: The Industrializing Years, 1941-1978 (Durham: Duke University Press, 2011); A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Volume 3: The Islamicate Period, 1978-1984 (Durham: Duke University Press, 2012); and A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Volume 4: The Globalizing Era, 1984-2010 (Durham: Duke University Press, 2012), all by Hamid Naficy

Tired Moonlight

This is a film review of Tired Moonlight (2015) directed by Britni West

Slamdance 2015

This is an introduction to our coverage of the Slamdance 2015 Film Festival

Understanding the Sources of the Sino-Islamic Intellectual Tradition: A Review Essay on The Sage Learning of Liu Zhi: Islamic Thought in Confucian Terms, by Sachiko Murata, William C. Chittick, and Tu Weiming, and Recent Chinese Literary Treasuries

An oft-quoted Hadith purports that it is incumbent upon every Muslim to seek knowledge, even if it is to be found as far away as China.1 However, the plethora of knowledge that was discovered there generally has yet to be unraveled by Western academics. If the intellectual tradition of Chinese Muslims may appear to be of minor consequence to the larger field of Islamic studies, this is in part because of our failure to assess their influence. The abundant resources for understanding the Islamic sciences in China have barely been grazed and are awaiting our thorough analytical peregrination. This essay attempts to evaluate the most recent work that explores this intellectual tradition, The Sage Learning of Liu Zhi: Islamic Thought in Confucian Terms, by Sachiko Murata, William C. Chittick, and Tu Weiming (Harvard University Press, 2009); some sources for subsequent study; and (3) methods for proceeding in the future

Michael E. Clarke. Xinjiang and China’s Rise in Central Asia, 1949-2009: A History. London: Routledge. 2011.

Book review