Robert G. Morrison

Robert G. Morrison is the George Lincoln Skolfield, Jr. Professor of Religion and Middle Eastern and North African Studies at Bowdoin College, where he also directs the Middle Eastern and North African Studies Program. He joined Bowdoin in 2008 after serving on the faculty at Whitman College from 2001 to 2008.

His research lies at the intersection of religion, science, and intellectual history, with a focus on the academic study of Islam and Judaism. His work explores the role of science—particularly astronomy, cosmology, and natural philosophy—in Islamic and Jewish texts, as well as in broader comparative theological frameworks.

His publications reflect a deep engagement with medieval Islamic and Jewish scientific thought, including major contributions to the New Cambridge History of Islam and the Cambridge History of Science. His articles examine topics such as lunar crescent visibility, celestial motion, natural theology, and the ethical dimensions of astronomy, revealing a consistent interest in how religious worldviews shape and are shaped by scientific reasoning.

• 2009 World Prize for the Book of the Year of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Islamic studies

Morrison has advised numerous graduate students and mentored junior scholars, though specific names are not listed in the available text. His research has been supported by academic institutions and scholarly presses, enabling the publication of monographs and co-edited volumes on intellectual exchange in the medieval Mediterranean. He has also delivered public lectures at Harvard Divinity School and participated in media discussions on Islam and science.

He is affiliated with the Department of Religion at Bowdoin College, where his work contributes to interdisciplinary programs in Middle Eastern and North African Studies. His forthcoming book, Merchants of Knowledge, promises to further illuminate the networks of scholarly exchange between the Ottoman Empire and Renaissance Europe.