Maryam Kashani

Maryam Kashani is an Associate Professor in Gender and Women’s Studies and Asian American Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her interdisciplinary work bridges filmmaking, anthropology, and critical scholarship, with affiliations including leadership in Believers Bail Out, a community initiative focused on freeing incarcerated Muslims and advancing abolition.

Research Focus:

• Theories of liberation, racial capitalism, and decolonial struggle
• Intersections of geography, Islam, and visual culture in social movements
• Ethnographic examination of Muslim communities in urban contexts
• Narrative strategies in knowledge production and archival practices

Her scholarly publications consistently explore themes of racial justice, Muslim diasporic experiences, and anti-colonial resistance. Recent works emphasize abolitionist frameworks, comparative sovereignty studies, and critical analyses of spatial politics in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Awards:
Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award for Medina by the Bay: Scenes of Muslim Study and Survival (2023)

Community Engagement:
Co-leads the Ten Freedom Summers Film Project with Wadada Leo Smith, examining Black freedom struggles through music and religion, while directing creative efforts toward abolitionist activism through Believers Bail Out.