Mohamed Ajouaou is an Assistant Professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam's Faculty of Religion and Theology, specializing in Religious Beliefs and Ethics. His research examines Islamic theology within contemporary European contexts. Research focuses on Islamic spiritual care practices, theological ethics in healthcare, and Muslim community dynamics in the Netherlands. Recent publications investigate vaccination ethics during pandemics and pedagogical approaches to religious literacy. Analysis of publications reveals strong emphasis on practical theology, Muslim identity in secular societies, and ethical frameworks for community engagement. No specific awards documented. Teaching includes the graduate course 'Islamitische theologie/Kalam' (Islamic Theology). Leads projects like 'Professionaliseringsprogramma Imams in Nederland 3' focusing on clergy education reform. Frequently contributes expert commentary on Islamic practices in Dutch media regarding fasting, conversion narratives, and religious education policy.
Prof. Dr. Asghar Seyed-Gohrab is a leading scholar in Persian and Iranian Studies at Utrecht University’s Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. His academic career spans over two decades, including roles as Chairman of Persian Studies at Leiden University and Principal Investigator of the ERC-funded 'Beyond Sharia' project examining Sufism’s role in Islamic intellectual history. He holds a PhD from Leiden University and has authored over 50 monographs and edited volumes on Persian poetry, Sufism, and Iranian cultural history. Education: B.A. in English (Vrije Universiteit), M.A. in Persian Studies (Leiden University), PhD (Leiden University) Research Focus: Medieval Persian poetry’s modern political and cultural relevance, Sufi movements, and the interplay between mysticism and state power in Iran. Grants: ERC Advanced Grant (2021), NWO VIDI/VENI (2009-2014), KNAW Fellow (2023). His research highlights how classical Persian poetry shapes modern Iranian identity, including its use in the 1979 Revolution and Iran-Iraq War. He has supervised 43+ students and edited journals like Iranian Studies and Persica .
Yaser Ellethy is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Religion and Theology, VU University Amsterdam, and serves as Rector-Director of the Centre for Islamic Theology. He holds dual PhDs in Islamic Theology and Philology, specializing in Quranic exegesis, Hadith sciences, and the evolution of Islamic thought in Western contexts. His research explores themes like democracy, pluralism, and Muslim perspectives on otherness. Education: PhD in Islamic Theology PhD in Philology Research Interests: Focuses on exegesis traditions, hermeneutics of Quran/Hadith, and contemporary challenges of Islam in Europe. His work bridges classical theology with modern pluralistic frameworks, emphasizing dialogue and contextual reinterpretation. Professional Activities: President of the European Society for Intercultural Theology and Interreligious Studies (ESITIS), Associate Editor of Journal of Interreligious Studies and Intercultural Theology , and member of several academic councils including the Netherlands Interuniversity School of Islamic Studies (NISIS). Awards: Teacher of the Year 2019 (VU Amsterdam Faculty of Religion and Theology). Teaching: Courses include Methodology of Quranic Exegesis, Hadith Sciences, and Comparative Islamic Jurisprudence. Maintains a 4.8/5 teaching evaluation average.
Dr. Ahab Bdaiwi is an Assistant Professor of Islamic Thought and History at Leiden University’s Faculty of Humanities, with a focus on medieval philosophy and Late Antique intellectual history. His academic work bridges religious and intellectual history, particularly in Shiʿi Islam, alongside expertise in Arabic codicology and Quranic studies. Affiliations: Founder, Leiden University Shiʿi Studies Initiative (LUSSI) Founder, Leiden University Centre for Islamic Thought and History (LUITH) Co-founder, Leiden University Centre for Late Antique and Medieval Studies (LAMS) Editor-in-Chief, Leiden University Arabic Humanities Blog Member, Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society (LUCIS) Senior Member, Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies (NISIS) Research Interests: Early Islamic Thought and Late Antiquity Medieval Arabic Philosophy and Theology Intellectual and Religious History of Shiʿi Islam Arabic Codicology and Manuscript Studies Quranic Studies Teaching: Modes of Knowing in Medieval Islamic Thought Introduction to Medieval Philosophy Classical Readings in Arabic Contemporary Islamic Thought Early Islam and the World of Late Antiquity He received the Cook Crone Fellowship in Ancient and Medieval History (2020-2021) and was a Visiting Scholar at the College of William and Mary (2016). His academic journey includes a PhD from the University of Exeter (2015) and prior teaching at the University of St Andrews (2013-2016).
Erik Meinema is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies , Utrecht University . His work bridges Religious Pluralism , Cultural Heritage , and Religion and Conflict in East Africa . As a member of the Religious Matters in an Entangled World research group led by Birgit Meyer, he explores youth culture and political secularism . PhD in Religious Studies (2021) - Utrecht University Research Talent Grant recipient (NWO) for PhD work His research focuses on religious diversity , material religion , and youth resilience in postcolonial contexts. Current projects include a NWO Veni-funded study on Giriama traditions as art/heritage/religion . Publications span journals like Religion , Africa , and edited volumes with Brill. Scientific accolades include the Gerardus van der Leeuw PhD Dissertation Award (2023) . He actively contributes to interdisciplinary conferences on topics like weapon symbolism and multiple secularities. Teaching involves Theories & Methods in Religious Studies and Religion & Violence courses.
Sarah de Mendonça Virgi is Assistant Professor of European and Islamic Philosophy at Utrecht University. Her research explores medieval Arabic thought across natural philosophy, philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and theology. Virgi's work examines concepts of spirit and soul in Islamic philosophical traditions, particularly through al-Ghazali and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi. She investigates connections between medieval Islamic philosophy and contemporary questions of ethics, biology, and human intelligence. Her publications analyze animal cognition in Islamic encyclopedias, ethical frameworks of the soul, and comparative approaches to natural philosophy. Current projects explore medieval conceptions of nature and their intersections with moral philosophy. Virgi serves as vice editor for IPM Monthly: Medieval Philosophy Today, making philosophical scholarship accessible beyond academia.
Lieke Stelling is an Associate Professor at Utrecht University , affiliated with the Department of Languages, Literature and Communication and the Institute for Cultural Inquiry . As Director of Education for English, she bridges academic leadership with research in early modern literature. Specializes in Shakespeare and Early Modern Cultural History Focuses on Europe's literary identity and humor's role in religious conflict Her research spans two major funded projects: 2022-2027 : NWO Vidi grant for Discovering Europe in the Early Modern Period , examining how fiction shaped European identity through multilingualism and urban symbolism 2017-2021 : NWO Veni grant for Faith in Jest , analyzing humor's function in Reformation-era literature Recent publications explore: 2024 : Humor in The Merry Wives of Windsor and literary responses to European integration crises 2022 : Digital humanities project MacBERTh creating historical language models Awarded: NWO Veni/Vidi grants Huntington Library Fellowship Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship Collaborates with: Prof. Els Stronks (Utrecht) Dr. Lauren Fonteyn (Leiden) Flatland Agency (design thinking)
Dr. Antonia Bosanquet is an Assistant Professor in Ancient History at the Department of History and Art History within the Faculty of Humanities at Utrecht University. She specializes in the history of the Middle East and the Islamic Mediterranean, with particular focus on early Islamic North Africa (Maghrib) and religious diversity in the early Islamic Empire. Her research bridges historical, legal, and religious studies perspectives. Dr. Bosanquet's research interests center on the Islamication of the Maghrib during the 8th and 9th centuries, examining migration patterns, knowledge networks, economic development, and sectarian Islam in the integration of Tunisia, Algeria, and western Libya into the Islamic Empire. She has extensive expertise in legal texts from the early Islamic West and their relevance for understanding social change. Her earlier work focused on the regulation of Jews and Christians living under Muslim rule from the 7th to 14th centuries, with particular attention to space, religious hierarchy, and interreligious relations. Her scholarly output reveals consistent engagement with religious diversity in early Islamic societies, legal history, and the formation of religious identity in North Africa. She has made significant contributions to understanding the complex religious landscape of early Islamic Ifrīqiya, challenging simplistic narratives of religious homogeneity. Her work often examines how demographic configurations and political contexts shaped religious discourse and identity formation. Dr. Bosanquet has co-organized several international conferences on the Islamic West between 2020 and 2023 and has served as guest editor for special journal issues focusing on Umayyad studies and sacralization practices. Her collaborative work demonstrates strong engagement with the international scholarly community in Islamic and Mediterranean studies. Her expertise extends to Digital Humanities and Arabic language, supporting her textual analysis of primary sources. Dr. Bosanquet's approach integrates historical, legal, and spatial analysis to understand the complex religious and social dynamics of early Islamic societies, with particular attention to how religious minorities were positioned within Islamic legal frameworks.
Dr. Joas Wagemakers is an Associate Professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies at Utrecht University's Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies within the Faculty of Humanities. He serves as the director of the Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies (NISIS), demonstrating his leadership in the field of Islamic studies in the Netherlands. Wagemakers' research focuses on the intellectual history of contemporary Islam in the modern Arab world, with particular emphasis on political thinking among Islamists. His work consistently utilizes Arabic primary and secondary sources, and he actively translates these materials to make them accessible to broader audiences. He contextualizes ideology within the broader political and socio-economic history in which ideas emerge, transform, and are adopted, often drawing connections to early-Islamic history to explain modern debates. His scholarly output reveals significant trends in Middle Eastern political Islam, particularly examining Salafism and Salafi ideology, the Muslim Brotherhood, citizenship and rights issues in Saudi Arabia (particularly concerning women and Shiites), and Hamas. Geographically, his research concentrates on Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian territories, though he also analyzes international Jihadi-Salafi discourse. His recent publications demonstrate a growing interest in sectarianism, political fragmentation of Islamist movements following the Arab Spring, and the evolving nature of Salafi thought. Among his notable recognitions is the British-Kuwaiti Friendship Society Book Prize awarded in 2017, highlighting the significance of his contributions to the field. Wagemakers actively engages with both academic and public audiences, frequently contributing to Dutch media outlets like Nederlands Dagblad and Trouw, as well as academic journals such as Religions and British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. He has served as editor for ZemZem: Tijdschrift over het Midden-Oosten, Noord-Afrika en islam and has participated in numerous international conferences and workshops on Islamic studies. As director of NISIS, Wagemakers leads an important national collaboration for Islamic studies in the Netherlands, fostering interdisciplinary research and academic exchange across Dutch universities focused on the Middle East and Islamic world.
Yolande Jansen is an Endowed Professor at the Faculty of Religion and Theology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, within the Department of Lived Religion and Society. She holds additional roles as Senior onderzoeker/docent at Universiteit van Amsterdam (since 2006) and Redacteur wetenschappelijk tijdschrift at De Helling Wetenschappelijk bureau (since 2013). Her research focuses on secularism, religious politics, and social imaginaries, particularly exploring intersections between Judaism, Islam, and European identity. Her research interests include critical analysis of secularism frameworks, race-religion dynamics, and the role of religion in contemporary society. She investigates how 'Jews' and 'Muslims' are socially constructed through mirroring processes and political discourses. Jansen's recent publications analyze the binaries of secularity-religion and secularity-piety, genealogies of ethnic-religious identities, and critiques of secularism theories. Earlier work addressed medical ethics in religious practices like circumcision. She has supervised one PhD thesis and contributes to academic debates through peer-reviewed chapters and articles. Her work frequently intersects with law, history, and cultural studies. Her ancillary activities include editorial work for scientific journals and teaching roles in Amsterdam's academic community.
Dr. Markha Valenta is an Assistant Professor at Utrecht University's University College Utrecht and serves as Director of Education at the Utrecht Center for Global Challenges (UGlobe). They hold additional roles as Community Engagement Ambassador at University College Utrecht and previously served as Director of the BA American Studies program at Radboud University (2014-2019) and President of the Netherlands American Studies Association (NASA, 2020-2024). Their research focuses on the geopolitics of diversity, analyzing how global relations shape democracies through comparative studies across North America, Western Europe, and South Asia. Key areas include the interplay of geopolitics, democracy, and religion; migration policies; postcolonial legacies; and urban citizenship. Current projects investigate US geopolitical influence in the Middle East tied to Native American genocide, diversity politics in postcolonial Netherlands, and Muslim migrant citizenship in democracies. They have held a 2021 Urban Fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies. Valenta’s work bridges disciplines (politics, anthropology, history, religious studies) and employs community-engaged methods, including field research with migrant rights organizations. Research affiliations include the Institutions for Open Societies (IOS) research group at Utrecht University, focusing on societal change, governance, democracy, and global justice. Their teaching emphasizes global challenges, integrating community engagement and critical theory. Public engagement includes columns for openDemocracy and roles with NIDA Think Tank.
Corné Hanssen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Utrecht University's Faculty of Humanities, specializing in Islam and Arabic studies. His academic profile bridges Middle Eastern and East Asian studies, with particular focus on Islamic influences in Chinese contexts. His research interests include Arabic language and literature, Berber Studies, Islam (particularly Shia Islam), Chinese politics, and the intersection of Islamic studies with contemporary Chinese society. His work explores topics such as Islamic influences along the Silk Road, the Uighur minority in Xinjiang, Chinese Communist Party ideology, and Arabic language studies. Hanssen's publications from 2001-2015 demonstrate an interdisciplinary approach connecting Middle Eastern and East Asian studies. His research reveals consistent interest in Chinese politics, Islamic studies, and linguistic diversity, with particular attention to the Xinjiang region, Chinese Communist Party ideology, and Islamic theological perspectives. He has been active in academic outreach through invited talks on diverse topics including Bedouin culture (2001), languages and peoples in Europe (2007), and languages and cultures of Morocco (1997), showcasing his broad expertise in cultural and linguistic diversity across regions.
Aaron Z. Pitluck is a Professor of Sociology at Illinois State University and serves as president of the International Sociological Association’s Research Committee on Economy and Society (ISA RC02). His academic work focuses on financial actors, organizations, and institutions in the Global South, with specialized ethnographic research on Islamic banking and finance in Malaysia. During 2022/23, he held a NIAS Individual Fellowship to develop a book on co-producing Islamic finance. Pitluck’s research examines how moral and ethical norms constitute financial markets through ethnographic analysis of professional investor behavior. His current work investigates collaboration between investment bankers and Shariah scholars in Malaysian Islamic banks, particularly regarding sukuk development as ethical alternatives to conventional bonds. This research critically explores distinctions between empowering and exploitative finance within transnational Islamic financial systems. His publication trajectory (2013-2020) demonstrates deepening engagement with Islamic finance as a site for moral contestation and innovation. Articles consistently bridge economic sociology, moral economy, and Islamic studies, analyzing how financial actors navigate religious compliance while challenging financial capitalism’s trajectory. Key themes include intellectual brokerage, financialization beyond functionality, and the convergence paradox in alternative finance models. Scientific Awards: NIAS Individual Fellowship (2022-2023)
Martha Frederiks is a Professor of the Study of World Christianity at Utrecht University's Faculty of Humanities, within the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. She holds an honorary position at the University of Pretoria. Her research focuses on Christianity in Africa, Christian-Muslim relations, and the history of Christian missions in West Africa. Frederiks has held leadership roles including Head of Department (2013-2019) and Vice-Dean of Education (2020-2024). Educational Background: Studied Theology and Islamic Studies at Utrecht University (Netherlands) and the Duncan Black MacDonald Institute in Hartford, CT (USA). Earned a PhD (cum laude) in 2003 on Christianity in The Gambia. Research Interests: Historical and contemporary developments in African Christianity, interreligious dialogue, missionary history, and migration's impact on religious identity. Current projects include the 'Christian-Muslim Relations' bibliographical history series and the 'Madina Project,' focusing on EuroAfrican Moravian missionary Christian Protten. Publications: Recent works include World Christianity: Methodological Considerations (2020), Christian-Muslim Relations. Primary Sources (2023), and edited volumes on mission history. Her research bridges historical analysis with contemporary theological and methodological frameworks. Grants/Projects: Participated in the Norface 'Recognising Christianity' project (2008-2011). Current involvement includes the 'Christian-Muslim Relations' project (2013-2023) and collaborative work on Protten's diaries. Labs/Teams: Active in interdisciplinary teams studying global Christianity and religious migration. Supervises research on transnational religious networks and historical missionary sources.
Dr. Nico Landman is Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Utrecht University's Faculty of Humanities, where he directs the bachelor's program in Islam and Arabic and the master's program in Religions in Contemporary Societies. His research examines the institutionalization of Islam in Europe, with recent projects focusing on the Turkish Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) and transnational Turkish-Islamic networks. His scholarship explores patterns of Muslim community organization in Europe, development of Islamic education systems, mosque-state relations, and adaptation of religious practices in secular contexts. Current projects analyze transnational religious networks and the genre of 'Stories of the Prophets' in European Muslim communities. Publication themes include: 1) Historical development of Muslim communities in the Netherlands 2) Islamic education and imam training 3) Political dimensions of religious research 4) Comparative analysis of Muslim organizational structures 5) Societal responses to Islamic practices. His work reflects consistent attention to practical implementation of religious accommodation policies.
