Religion and Identity in Eurasia

This seminar will explore how religion articulates itself both through localized identities, based on community belonging, ethnic or national references, and with globalized identities (the Ummah, some transnational brotherhoods, proselytizing groups). At both the individual and collective levels, the traditional ways of expressing religion are anchored in local processes and understood as code of social conduct. It will investigate how Islam can be used as a tool to express societal transformations and therefore open new political spaces for mediating them.
4:00pm Presentations

Liliya Karimova (George Washington University)
Muslim Identity in Russia through an Ethnographic Lens: The Case of Muslim Tatar Women in Tatarstan

Ruslan Baramidze (Niko Berdzenishvili Institute of Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University)
The Muslim Community and Political processes in Georgia

Timothy Grose, (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology)
(Re)Embracing Islam in Neidi: the ‘Xinjiang Class’ and the Dynamics of Uyghur Ethno-national Identity.”

5:15pm Moderated Discussion