@phdeviant.bsky.social
Evjue-Bascom Professor in the Humanities at UW-Madison | Religious Studies | Director, SLA Doctoral Program | Researching language, identity & Islamic media in East Africa May all beings find peace.
I'm excited for UW–Madison’s Middle East Studies Conference on Apr 17! I’ll present "Broadcasting Gaza, Negotiating Difference: How a Tanzanian Islamic Radio Station Mobilizes Solidarity Across Denominational Divides." Free & open to all.
The Middle East Studies Program recently interviewed me about the formation of the UW Muslim & Muslim‑Allied Faculty & Staff group & the work we’ve taken on: building community, supporting student activism, & pushing back against Islamophobia & the policing of pro‑Palestinian speech on campus.
The AFA Program Committee is thrilled to announce a virtual spring job market workshop on March 27 at 12pm EST. The workshop will be facilitated by Drs. Julia Kowalski, Hemangini Gupta, and Tatiana Sánchez Parra and moderated by Dr. Dinah Hannaford. Please see the below for RSVP information!
#AFA
“I will do it tomorrow,” said Toad. “Today I will take life easy.”
Watching the war,
It is not far away.
It is people like me.
I send my love.
— Jack Kornfield, gatha written during the Gulf War
“Africa is not what it is because of what it is like. Africa is what it is because of what the world is like, and vice versa. So we study Africa to understand the world.”
— Elísio Macamo
Library book booty
Can self-improvement actually fix a rigged system? Nurhaizatul Jamil's Faithful Transformations follows Muslim women in Singapore as they navigate piety, productivity culture, and racial capitalism all at once — and the answer is complicated. I reviewed it for Reading Religion.
Join peaceful protestors from Madison Dharma Action for Nonviolence and Awareness for a silent walk for peace in the Middle East & at home. Sunday 1 March. Meet at library mall at 2pm, then walk with us up State Street to join the Singing Resistance at Lisa Link Park at 2:30. All are welcome.
I feel for you both.
Speaking at tonight’s Muslim faculty & staff Iftar on Ramadhan’s lessons for non-Muslims.
Is Wendy your spouse? Where are you two now?
On the nose.
Reading The Book of Eights after suhur (as one does) and found this little guy drawn in the margins.
Job: 2-year Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Africana Studies at Rhodes College. Review of applications begins March 9, 2026.
Right Speech protects all voices. SB445 would silence educators and public workers through fear of retaliation. May we speak truth freely and guard that right for others. Sign if you’re in WI. Text SIGN PGBFXC to 50409.
resist.bot/petitions/PG...
#EngagedBuddhism #Wisconsin
Applications are now open for the 2026-2028 Young Scholars in American Religion cohort.
Applications are due April 1, 2026.
Learn more about YSAR and apply to be apart of the next cohort: raac.indianapolis.iu.edu/young-schola...
If you trust someone, you can often talk *to them* rather than talking *about them*. I know this gets complicated, but it's often less complicated than we tell ourselves it is.
So proud of my student @gengqixiao.bsky.social and his coauthors! Their new article in the Journal of Sociolinguistics offers a sharp contribution to second language acquisition research, showing how language learning is shaped by identity, ideologies, and social interaction.
My latest article is out in JAAR! "A Woman Is Not Created Mute" explores how Muslim women in Tanzania navigate theological debates about the female voice as 'awrah while working at an Islamic radio station. First piece with photos! 📻 (Message me for a copy.)
Book coming soon, Inshallah.
✒️ A Calligraphic Composition by Ottoman Sultan Mustafa II, c. 1700 "In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate"
UPDATE! IHRA (AB446/SB445) is likely to be passed in both houses and come down to a veto from Gov Evers. Wisconsinites! Please call and email the governor's office to urge him to veto this threat to academic freedom, free speech, and the right to protest.
My review of Wikke Jansen's excellent Queer Mobilities in Indonesia is now out. Her "insistence on queerness" framework shows how class, gender, & geography determine whose queerness can be publicly visible without devastating consequences & challenges a Western emphasis on visibility.
The MEGA Act violates the Second Precept: taking what isn’t given—our voting rights. May we protect access to the ballot box for all beings.
Text SIGN PBBMMV to 50409
resist.bot/petitions/PB...
#EngagedBuddhism #VotingRights
