Concepts have long lost their innocence, not least due to post-modern and post-colonial critique. In the heydays of modernity, researchers tended to presume the universalism of key analytical concepts: every society was thought to have some form of state, some version of religion, art, literature, or science. All of those supposedly universal concepts have been…

On 8 December 2024, the regime of Bashar al-Asad, the president of Syria whose dictatorial rule had been in place for decades (and, before that, his father Hafiz al-Asad’s), ended for good when he was overthrown through a revolution. To commemorate and reflect on this event and its possible implications for the future of Syria,…

It is no longer possible to apply for this event. Gender norms in Muslim contexts are often associated with polygyny, repudiation and child marriage. In fact, since the negative stereotyping of Islam and Muslims intensified following 9/11, gender has consistently played a crucial role in the narratives about Islam and Muslims, with discourses of ‘repressed…

Place: Utrecht Date: October 9-10, 2025 This session, chaired by Prof. Dr. Thijl Sunier, is part of the NWO-funded program on Religion and Climate Change in the Netherlands and hosted by Tilburg University. It aims to explore the intersection of Islamic authority, digital spaces, and environmental advocacy, focusing on how Muslim organizations, religious leaders, and individuals…