Hughes/Somewhere, 1. The Current State of Islamic Studies

Chapter 1, The Current State of Islamic Studies, is based on a lecture I gave at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations at the Aga Khan University in London. The organizers had asked me to give a lecture wherein I would reflect on the ways that my trilogy of books—Situating Islam, Theorizing Islam, and Islam and the Tyranny of Authenticity (two of which were published with Equinox) have helped to shape the field of Islamic studies today. The lecture (and now chapter) examines the reception of my work in the field, analyses its impact, and shows what has changed and what has stayed the same.