Faculty of Islamic Studies Welcomes Two Visiting Fellows from the University of Edinburgh

Siti Sarah Muwahidah, Ph.D. and Kholoud Al-Ajarma, Ph.D. from HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, have recently arrived in Depok, West Java. Both are visiting fellows at the Faculty of Islamic Studies, Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII).

Muwahidah, who is an academic from the University of Edinburgh, is a visiting scholar at the Faculty of Islamic Studies in "The Edinburgh-UIII Postgraduate Dual Degree Partnership on Islam and the Globalized Muslim World" program, funded by the British Council's Going Global Partnership Program, in 2022 and 2023. Her role as a visiting scholar will last for two months, from 15 June to 15 August 2022. Afterwards, the program will be continued by her colleague from the University of Edinburgh in 2023.

Siti Sarah Muwahidah is an Alwaleed Early Career Teaching and Research Fellow on Contemporary Muslim Societies in Southeast Asia at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. She holds a Ph.D. in Religion (2020) from the Graduate Division of Religion, Emory University, Atlanta, USA. Her Ph.D. dissertation examined Sunni-Shiʿi relations and the development of sectarianization in Indonesia. Her academic interests include interfaith dialogue, religious conflict and peacebuilding, political theology, and identity politics. She has conducted research in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Her current research looks at the formation of authorities and transnational networks among Indonesian Shiʿi communities.

During her visiting fellow at UIII, Muwahidah will play an essential role in several activities, such as realizing a transnational dual degree program that brings together the UIII's MA in Islamic Studies and the UoE's MSc in The Globalized Muslim World; carrying out a joint teaching program; and developing international exposure and research development which includes conferences and public lectures.

Meanwhile, Al-Ajarma is an Alwaleed Lecturer in the Globalized Muslim World at the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, the University of Edinburgh, and a visiting fellow at the Faculty of Islamic Studies in the period 10-31 July 2022.

Kholoud Al-Ajarma is an Alwaleed Lecturer in the Globalized Muslim World at the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Edinburgh. Her research interests are in environmental concerns across the contemporary Muslim World. Kholoud holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Comparative Study of Religion from the University of Groningen (Netherlands). Her Ph.D. thesis focused on the socio-cultural embeddedness of Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) in Moroccan everyday life. During her Ph.D. studies, she worked as a lecturer at the University of Groningen. She delivered several courses, including 'Anthropology of Muslim Societies,' 'Islam: History, Sources, and Practices, and 'Minorities in Contemporary Europe.' Her current research focuses on water resource management and contemporary environmental concerns in the Muslim World. Kholoud is also an award-winning photographer and filmmaker with extensive experience developing and leading refugee communities' programs and projects, including innovative human rights research platforms and media production among young refugee youth.

Al-Ajarma will play a role in carrying out joint teaching program activities; developing international exposure and research development which includes conferences and public lectures; and become one of the keynote speakers in the 1st Colloquium Decentering Islamic Studies: Towards New Approaches in the Study of Islam and Muslim Societies which will be held by the Faculty of Islamic Studies on 12-13 July 2022. (ANJ)

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