Description:
Day one of a two-day symposium organized by the Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa (ISITA) and dedicated to the memory of ISITA cofounder and history and religion professor emeritus John Hunwick. “Sacred Word” explores the meaning(s) of textual cultures in Muslim societies in Africa and the changes that have taken place in those cultures during the last two centuries. Over twenty scholars from Africa, Europe, and North America will address how African Muslims give aesthetic form to the sacred word in a variety of contexts including handwritten manuscripts, printed works, material objects, sound, music, and performance.
This symposium is supported by a US Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center grant to the Program of African Studies, NU, and the Center for African Studies, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is co-sponsored by the Buffett Institute for Global Studies, the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, the Chabraja Center for Historical Studies, the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, the Office for Research, the Department of History, the Department of Religious Studies, and the American Islamic College, Chicago.
Visit the symposium website for more information and to register.
Program of African Studies
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