Originally posted at Mizan, March 14, 2018: On October 19, 2008, a little over a fortnight before the November 4 election contested by Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, former Republican Secretary of State and retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Colin Powell appeared on the NBC News Sunday morning program Meet the Press to endorse the Democrat. Powell outlined multiple reasons for … Continue reading Muslim Messiahs? American Civil Religion and U.S. Military Service

The Association for the Academic Study of New Religions has announced that Edward Curtis is the first prize winner of the 2017 Thomas Robbins Award for Excellence in the Study of New Religions for his article, “Science and Technology in Elijah Muhammad’s Nation of Islam: Astrophysical Disaster, Genetic Engineering, UFOs, White Apocalypse, and Black Resurrection,” in Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, … Continue reading Curtis Wins Thomas Robbins Award

Originally published in the Indianapolis Star, Feb. 18, 2018: Almost half of Americans say that they go to one every week. It’s where Americans often get married, introduce their kids to the community, mourn their dead, raise money to assist those in need, organize community service, and even negotiate business deals. It is, of course, the religious congregation, and as Alexis de Tocqueville indicated in … Continue reading “Indy Star”: What’s American about American Mosques?

Terrorism. Anti-Muslim prejudice. Sexism. Culture clash. Political controversy. These concerns have so dominated the study of Islam in the United States, according to Edward Curtis, Millennium Chair of the Liberal Arts and Professor of Religious Studies at IUPUI, that we don’t have reliable, peer-reviewed research on how Muslim Americans pray, fast, get married, or welcome a child into the world. Funded by grants from Indiana … Continue reading How do Muslim Americans Practice Islam? Scholars, Community Members Contribute to New Book

INDIANAPOLIS — Original Muslim American poetry displayed at Indianapolis’ Monument Circle. Muslim and Christian youth documenting each other’s faith communities through a joint photography exhibit. A Holocaust museum conducting Islamophobia workshops for students. An original children’s play based on Muslim folklore. Muslim youth learning how to confront anti-Muslim bias. Those are five projects that could help prevent Islamophobia in greater Indianapolis, and they will all … Continue reading Millennium Chair’s Awards to Prevent Islamophobia Announced

Originally published in the Indianapolis Star, July 26, 2017: The 2017 Pew Research Center’s poll of U.S. Muslims released today has one overarching message: even though half the country might disagree, Muslim and non-Muslim Americans really are more similar than different. Muslim Americans may have distinct religious cultures, but the fear stoked by the election of Donald Trump is not turning Muslim Americans into more … Continue reading “Indy Star”: Muslims proudly embrace America

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – Edward Curtis, a professor of religious studies, is hosting a contest aimed at tackling anti-Muslim prejudices in a new way.       Continue reading WTHR Channel 13 Story on My Competition to Prevent Islamophobia

“To combat Islamophobia, an IUPUI professor is turning to crowd-sourcing the arts and humanities.” Arts reporter Domenica Bongiovanni interviewed me about the competition, asking why I thought the arts and humanities could help to prevent anti-Muslim violence. A link to the story is here.   Continue reading “Indy Star”: IUPUI professor offers grants to creative types to battle Islamophobia

I am happy to announce ten awards of $1,000 each to prevent Islamophobia, or anti-Muslim prejudice, discrimination, and violence, in Greater Indianapolis. Highly original projects are sought from local writers, community activists, artists, religious congregations, public school teachers, dancers, community volunteers, philosophers, amateur historians, linguists, musicians, healers, social workers, poets, non-profit groups, and others. Projects can include performance, social media, debate, dialogue, the production of … Continue reading Community Competition to Prevent Islamophobia