Join us for the annual Sheikh Lecture with Dr. Shenila Khoja-Moolji, associate professor and Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Endowed Chair of Muslim Societies at Georgetown University as she discusses the displacements of Shia Ismaili Muslim communities in the twentieth century and women's critical role in remaking their communities.

The Sheikh Lecture Series is open to the campus community and the public. The Sheikh Lecture series promotes cultural awareness, tolerance, and understanding while countering Islamophobia. It honors the late Hajja Razia Sharif Sheikh (1920–1989), a devout woman committed to higher education and respecting all cultures, creeds, and religions.

For questions, please contact: nslitine@uky.edu

About Shenila Khoja-Moolji

Professor Khoja-Moolji is an award-winning interdisciplinary scholar of gender, religion, and migration whose work has shaped debates in Islamic studies, gender studies, and comparative and international education. Her most recent book is Rebuilding Community: Displaced Women and the Making of a Shia Ismaili Muslim Sociality (Oxford University Press, 2023).

Title: "Halal Tourism and the Recharting of the West"

Description:  Muslims are the fastest growing population of international tourists today, and their travel constitutes the largest cross-border movement of Muslims both historically and in our contemporary world.  Based on extensive ethnographic research conducted on the global emergence of halal tourism networks in Turkey, Spain, GCC, UK, Singapore and Malaysia, Prof. Ahmad examines how Muslim tourist itineraries are recharting our understanding of ‘the West’.

The Sheikh Lecture is open to the campus community and general public.

Reception: Refreshments will be served in the Alumni Gallery immediately following the lecture.

Title: "Halal Tourism and the Recharting of the West"

Description:  Muslims are the fastest growing population of international tourists today, and their travel constitutes the largest cross-border movement of Muslims both historically and in our contemporary world.  Based on extensive ethnographic research conducted on the global emergence of halal tourism networks in Turkey, Spain, GCC, UK, Singapore and Malaysia, Prof. Ahmad examines how Muslim tourist itineraries are recharting our understanding of ‘the West’.

The Sheikh Lecture is open to the campus community and general public.

Reception: Refreshments will be served in the Alumni Gallery immediately following the lecture.