Erin Atwell

Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies

Primary Academic Program: Interdisciplinary Study of Religions

Biography:

BA, Loyola University Chicago; MA, Fordham University; MA and PhD, University of Chicago, Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and Anthropology. Erin Atwell’s research explores intersections of early Islamic texts and contemporary Muslim practices. Her current book project is a study of early Islamic ethical and aesthetic expressions of godfearingness (taqwā), and how these expressions shape efforts to renew religious discourse in post-revolutionary Egyptian religious spaces. Publications include: “Hold Fast the Reins and Be Guided: Embodied Expressions of Taqwā in Prophetic Hadith and Orations of ʿAli ibn Abī Ṭālib” in Journal of Arabic Literature, 2023; “Renewing Religious Discourse: The Azhar Documents and Conceptions of Reform in Contemporary Egypt” in the Oxford Handbook of Islamic Reform, forthcoming 2025. Fellowships include: Fulbright US Student Program, Egypt; Lichstern Anthropology Dissertation Fellowship, University of Chicago. At Bard since 2024.

Contact:

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Location: Hopson
Office: 202