Speaker
Asifa Quraishi-Landes
Professor of Law, School of Law, UW–Madison
Asifa Quraishi-Landes specializes in comparative Islamic and U.S. constitutional law, with a current focus on modern Islamic constitutional theory. She is a 2009 Carnegie Scholar and 2012 Guggenheim Fellow. Recent publications include “Legislating Morality and Other Illusions about Islamic Government” (in Locating the Shari’a: Legal Fluidity in Theory, History and Practice, Nathan French & Sohaira Siddiqui editors), and “Healing a Wounded Islamic Constitutionalism: Sharia, Legal Pluralism, and Unlearning the Nation-State Paradigm (in Transformative Constitutionalism, Boaventura De Sousa Santos, editor). Currently, she is working on a book manuscript tentatively titled “Three Pillars Constitutionalism” in which she proposes a new model of Islamic constitutionalism for today’s Muslim-majority countries. Professor Quraishi-Landes co-founded the Muslim and Muslim-Allied Faculty and Staff Group at UW–Madison.
Speaking in
The Islamophobia Sniff Test: Recognizing Islamophobia On College Campuses and the Impact It Has On Our Community
Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism are deeply rooted prejudices that target Muslims and individuals perceived as Muslim, such as Arab Christians and non-Muslim South Asians. They fuel hate speech, hostility, hate crimes, and intolerance, often manifesting as discrimination, harassment, abuse, and intimidation. In the United States, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism have been used to justify concerning policies, including mass surveillance, guilt by association, and collective punishment of members of the Muslim community. And on campuses, inequitable policies have also led to harassment and bigotry that allows for unsafe conditions for Muslim and Arab students. During this session, UW Muslim and Muslim-Allied Faculty and Staff will share research on the origins of Islamophobia in the US, societal repercussions that has led to inequities for Muslim and Arabs, research on how it has manifested at UW-Madison, and ways the campus community can foster inclusion and belonging so everyone can thrive.
Session Objectives
- Explain the origins of Islamophobia in the US, originating from anti-Palestinian bigotry, evolving as anti-Arab racism, and later as widespread Islamophobia.
- Describe case examples of how collective punishment has allowed for justification of dehumanization and deprivation of rights typically afforded to other individuals.
- Evaluate results from the 2021 Campus Climate Survey, a fall 2023 listening session with Muslim and Arab students, and 2023 Color of Drinking study, in order to name how Muslims and Arabs at UW-Madison feel.
- Identify factors that influence inclusion and belonging for Muslim and Arab Americans at UW Madison.