The Al-Mahdi Institute held its first-ever Graduate Islamic Studies Conference between the 28th – 29th of May. The conference was aimed exclusively at masters students studying any aspect of Islam or Muslim societies at any university, the first conference of its kind to be held in the UK. The conference began with a keynote lecture from Dr Fozia Bora, Associate Professor at the University of Leeds and Chair of the British Association for Islamic Studies. Sixteen papers were selected to be presented by students working on a wide range of topics and based at universities across the UK and as far as Germany.

Several AMI students were also involved in the conference, both as presenters and as chairs of the seven panels which made up the two days. As all those presenting are at the beginning of their research careers, a key feature of the conference which was incorporated into the two days was the opportunity for students to gain feedback on their presentations and research from AMI’s faculty, experts in a range of areas within Islamic studies with decades of experience in the field. The feedback received from the attendees was extremely positive and as a result of this, plans are in place for this conference to be an annual event with the hope that it will provide a platform for students to gain experience presenting in an academic environment and to network with like-minded peers.

Source: Al-Mahdi Institute