Assistant Professor
- Islam in South Asia, Sufism, Islamic law and ethics, method and theory in the study of religion, gender and sexuality in contemporary Islam, religion and colonialism, and psychoanalysis
Ali Altaf Mian received his B.A. in Philosophy and M.A. in English from the University of Louisville, and his Ph.D. from the Graduate Program in Religion at Duke University. His research areas include Islam in South Asia, the history of classical Islamic theology, mysticism, and legalism (especially the Hanafi Law School), Qur'anic studies, Hadith studies, gender and sexuality in contemporary Islam, religion and modernity (with particular emphasis on how religious traditions changed in and through European colonialism), as well as method and theory in the study of religion (particularly the invocation of psychoanalytical theory for interpreting religious ideas, rituals, and institutions).
Mian is currently preparing two manuscripts: Muslims in South Asia (contracted with Edinburgh University Press) and Surviving Modernity: Ashraf 'Ali Thanvi and the Genres of Muslim Self-Making in Colonial India. Mian also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the American Academy of Religion (since 2017).
Mian's numerous peer-reviewed articles, review essays, book reviews, and blogs can be accessed HERE.