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Our program grounds students in a study of Islam as a worldview/civilization and living reality. The program engages them in exploring the primary texts, history, and cultural traditions as well as global communities and regional issues of the Islamic world. Three assumptions undergird the philosophy of this program: Islam is an historical civilization and a living reality; it has interacted with all known forms of government and thus produced varied cultural expressions; and the religious core ties all of these cultural expressions together.

Using the methods of interdisciplinary studies, students will not only investigate the history of Islam, major texts and sources of Islam in their introductory coursework, but will also focus intensively on specific aspects of global Islamic experiences. Included in this coursework are the opportunities to take a closer look at the history and diversity of Islam in the Middle East, or study the American Muslim community. Central to this is a focus on specific contexts, local communities and individuals that reshape the legacies of Islam in their unique contexts.

The core course work in Islamic Studies includes language study, fieldwork, and opportunities for study abroad. There are also service learning options. This approach to the study of Islam is currently unmatched anywhere else in the United States and perhaps the world.