Muslims and Evangelical Christians in America

"Muslims and Evangelical Christians in America: Intersections and Interactions in a Shared Cultural Space"

Saeed A. Khan, Wayne State University, Detroit 

Abstract

This paper will present recent efforts to bridge the chasm of understanding between evangelical Christians and Muslims, including a course on Muslim-Christian diversity offered at a Michigan evangelical college, addressing doctrinal beliefs as well as cultural differences between the two faith communities, by creating a safe space to discuss contentious issues and achieve a metric for dialogue and acceptance in a shared cultural space.  Additionally, homeschooling networks where Evangelical and Muslim parents educate their children outside conventional curricula shall be examined.

Saeed A. Khan is currently in the Department of History and Lecturer in the Department of Near East & Asian Studies at Wayne State University- Detroit, Michigan, where he teaches Islamic and Middle East History, Politics and Culture and where he also is a Fellow at the Center for the Study of Citizenship.  His primary area of research is the identity politics of Muslim diaspora communities in the US, UK and Europe.  He is also Adjunct Professor in Islamic Studies at the University of Detroit-Mercy and at Rochester College, co-teaching a course on Muslim-Christian Diversity. He has taught Islam and World Politics at Michigan State University: James Madison College; Modern Middle Eastern and World History at Henry Ford College in Dearborn, Michigan and Middle East History at Eastern Michigan University.  In addition, he is a founding member and a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Social Policy & Understanding: a Michigan-based Think Tank promoting the study and analysis of US social and domestic policy.  

With areas of focus including US policy, globalization, Middle East and Islamic Studies, as well as genomics and bioethics, Mr. Khan has been a contributor to several media agencies, such as C-Span, NPR, Voice of America and the National Press Club, as well as newspapers and other outlets, and is also a consultant on Islamic and Middle East affairs for the BBC.  In addition, he has served as consultant to the US-Arab Economic Forum.  Most recently, Mr. Khan has founded the Center for the Study of Trans-Atlantic Diasporas, a Think Tank and policy center examining and comparing the condition of ethnic immigrant groups in North America and Europe, consulting the US and UK governments on their respective Muslim communities.   


Mr. Khan’s publications include, “Orientalism and Western Concepts of Race and Difference in Science,” in the Encyclopedia of the Human Genome, by Nature Publishing Group, four entries in the Encyclopedia of Islam in America by Greenwood Press and an entry on Muslim women in multimedia roles in North America in Brill’s Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Culture.  His study on the “Impact of the Iraq Crisis upon the Interaction of Detroit’s Iraqi Religious Communities” as part of the Harvard Pluralism Project has received international attention. He also serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Islamic Law & Culture, published by Taylor & Francis.
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