Gender and Muslim Spaces – One Day Seminar
University of Leeds – Wed 29 March 2017
Register now via: https://gender-and-muslim-spaces.eventbrite.co.uk

The question of gender inclusion among British Muslims is currently a high profile debate. This conference aims to unpack the many facets of this debate from a range of methodological, theoretical and community perspectives. There are three main strands to the theme:

– Academic Research and Gender Inclusion:
What theoretical work needs to be done to highlight gender exclusion or inclusion more concretely? What impact can gender inclusion or exclusion have upon research methodologies, ethical issues, questions of access and questions of academic representation?

– Politics of Gender Inclusion and Exclusion:
What role does the issue of gender inclusion now play in questions of state policies regarding Muslims? How far is it tied to questions of securitisation and extremism? How central an issue is it in terms of discourses of Islamic reform or notions of personal authenticity in terms of new Islamic gender theology and everyday Muslim practices?

– Gender Inclusion in British Muslim Institutions, Networks and Movements:
How extensive is the drive towards gender inclusion? What enhances and retards gender inclusion? What modalities of inclusion are being undertaken? How is gender exclusion being defended or problematised?

Schedule:
10.30-11.00 Arrival and Networking (Michael Sadler SR LG.10)

11.00-11.15 Welcome and Introduction (Michael Sadler SR LG.10)
Dr Seán McLoughlin (University of Leeds) and Dr Carl Morris (MBRN)

11.15-12.15 Plenary Session 1:
Community perspectives: How can Muslim institutions and networks become more gender inclusive? (Michael Sadler SR LG.10)
Chair: Yahya Birt (University of Leeds)
– Bana Gora (Muslim Women’s Council, Bradford)
– Imam Qari Asim (Makkah Mosque, Leeds)
– Dr Siema Iqbal (MEND, Muslim Engagement and Development)
Followed by Q&A

12.15-13.30 Lunch / Prayer / Networking
MBRN AGM (Michael Sadler SR LG.10)
– New Team Announcement/Future Events

13.30-14.30 Plenary Session 2:
Academic perspectives: how can research on British Muslims become more gender sensitive? (Michael Sadler SR LG.10)
Chair: Dr Seán McLoughlin (University of Leeds)
– Poles Apart: Reflections on Fieldwork with Salafi Women and Tablighi Men – Dr Anabel Inge (King’s College London) and Riyaz Timol (University of Cardiff)
Followed by Q&A

14.30 – 16.00 Parallel Panels
Panel 1: Negotiating Gendered Muslim Spaces: Theoretical Approaches (Michael Sadler SR LG.10)
– Muslim Women in Britain c. 1890 to 1948: Historical Grounding for Contemporary Debate – Dr Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (University of Coventry)
– Dual-gendered Ethnography in Segregated Spaces – Chris Moses (University of Cambridge) and Alyaa Ebbiary (SOAS)
– Experiences of First and Second Generation Pakistani Women in Areas of High Muslim and Co-Ethnic Density – Asma Khan (University of Cardiff)
– British Muslim Woman, Building British Muslim Lives – Saleema Farah Burney (SOAS)

Panel 2: Gender, Securitization and Representation (Michael Sadler SR LG.16)
– The Transformation of British Islamic Institutions and Its Consequences for Muslim Women’s Representation in Public Life – Dr Stephen H. Jones (Newman University)
– The Securitization of British Muslim Women – Shahnaz Akhtar (University of Warwick)
– The Prevent Duty and the Securitization of the Muslim Girl and the Muslim Boy – Natalie James (University of Leeds)

Panel 3: Negotiating Access in Public and Private Spaces (Michael Sadler SR LG.17)
– Uncertain Futures? Perspectives of Female Muslim Students on Life in Britain – Dr Naomi Thompson (Goldsmiths) and Dr Stephen Pihlaja (Newman University)
– Gender, Inclusivity and UK Mosque Experiences – Dervla Shannahan (Inclusive Mosque Initiative)
– Ethnic’ Space as ‘Religious’ Space in Queens, New York: Questioning the Meaning of Secular Space – Muntasir Sattar (Independent Researcher)
– No More A Shadow: Making Space for Muslim Mothers’ Narratives – Suma Din (Independent Researcher)

16.00 – 16.30 Conclusion (Michael Sadler SR LG.10)
– Summary of day and Q&A

16.30 End of Day Seminar

16.30 – 18.00 (Informal) Networking Time

18.00 – 20.00 Film Showing and Discussion
Blessed are the Strangers (2016) – documentary screening. (University of Leeds, venue TBC)
“Over thirty years, two very different groups of British people become Muslim and come together to form one of Britain’s oldest and most diverse communities of Muslim converts.”
Followed by discussion and Q&A – Yahya Birt speaks with Ahmed Peerbux, Abdalhaqq Bewley.
Watch the trailer here: http://www.thestrangers.co.uk/

20.00 Depart

Register now via: https://gender-and-muslim-spaces.eventbrite.co.uk

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