An Orthodox Journal of Cross-Cultural Theology, Dialogue and Mission

Assist. Prof. Philip C. Dorroll

philip_dorroll

Member of the Editorial Board

Islamic Studies, Department of Religion, Wofford College, USA

“I believe that a nuanced understanding of the historical relationship between Orthodox Christians and Muslims is a neglected but crucial part of Orthodox witness in the 21st century. A general Orthodox awareness of not just the history of conflict but also the history of coexistence between these two communities is in my view necessary in order to build a strong Orthodox theological foundation for both social witness and social harmony.”

Philip Dorroll

Wofford College, Department of Religion

429 North Church Street, Spartanburg, South Carolina, 29303

Phone: 864-597-4563 email: dorrollpc@wofford.edu

Website: https://wofford.academia.edu/PhilDorroll

 

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

 

Assistant Professor of Religion: September 2013-Present

Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC

Courses Taught: Introduction to Islam; Contemporary Islam; Christian and Islamic Theology in Comparative Perspective; Political Islam; Sex, Gender, and Religion; Theories and Methods in Religious Studies; Introduction to Religion; Religions of the World; Religious Histories of Istanbul: Christian-Muslim Relations and the Megacity (January 2015, with travel to Istanbul, Turkey: http://sites.wofford.edu/dorrollpc/ ); Introductory Arabic

 

EDUCATION

 

PhD, Religion, August 2013

Area of Specialization: Islamic Studies

Emory University, Atlanta, GA

 

MA, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, May 2009

Major Language: Arabic; Minor Language: Turkish

Concentration in Islamic Studies

Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

 

BA, Religious Studies and English, May 2007

Minor in History; Minor in Philosophy

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

 

Purdue University Study Abroad

Tec de Monterrey, Mazatlan, Mexico

Spring Semester 2007

 

Independent Study Abroad

Boğaziçi University, History Department, Istanbul, Turkey

Spring Semester 2006

 

Immersion Language Training in Arabic, Salalah, Oman (Summer 2008)

 

Immersion Language Training in Turkish, TÖMER Institute, Turkey (Ankara and Izmir; Summer 2010, 2011, 2012)

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

 

History of Islamic theology and religious thought

History of Eastern Christian theology and Eastern Christian-Muslim relations

 

BOOK

 

Islamic Theology in the Turkish Republic (Forthcoming from Edinburgh University

Press, fall 2020)

 

The first comprehensive treatment in English of modern Turkish Islamic theology from the end of the Ottoman empire up to the present day

 

JOURNAL ARTICLES

 

2019           “Praying to an Absent God: A Comparative Critique of Religious

Nationalism,” The Wheel (A Journal of Orthodox Christian Thought)

17/18

2017           “Shari‘a and the Secular in Modern Turkey,” Contemporary Islam

11:2

2017           “Post-Gezi Islamic Theology: Intersectional Islamic Feminism in Turkey,”

           Review of Middle East Studies 50:2

2016           “The Universe in Flux: Reconsidering Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī’s

Metaphysics and Epistemology,” Journal of Islamic Studies 27:2

2014            “‘The Turkish Understanding of Religion’: Rethinking Tradition and Modernity in

Contemporary Turkish Islamic Thought,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 82:4

2014           “Christian Polemic and the Nature of the Sensual: Depicting Islam in Arabic

Christian Theology,” Studies in World Christianity 20:3

2014            “Scripture and Dissent: Engaging with the Neo-Patristic Paradigm of

Modern Orthodox Theology,” International Journal of Orthodox Theology 4:2

 

CO-AUTHORED ARTICLES

 

2017                Lead author, Courtney Dorroll; “Teaching Islam in Contemporary America: Digital Ethnography and the Affective Challenges of Islamic Studies Pedagogy.” Teaching Theology and Religion 20:4

 

BOOK CHAPTERS

 

2019            “The Five Questions about Islam Your Students Didn’t Know They Had:

Teaching Islamic Studies to an American Audience.” In Courtney Dorroll,

  1.            Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2019.

2018           “The Doctrine of the Nature of the Qur’ān in the Māturīdī Tradition.” In

Akpınar et al., ed. Matüridi Düşünce ve Matüridilik Literatürü. 159-178.

Istanbul: Selçuk Üniversitesi İmam Matüridi Uygulama ve Araştırma

Merkezi and Endülüs Yayınları, 2018.

2018            “‘The Turkish Understanding of Religion’: Rediscovering Māturīdī in

Modern Turkey.” In Kutlu, ed. International Symposium on Maturidism:

Papers. 539-548. Ankara: Ahmet Yesevi Üniversitesi and Olivin Ofset, 2018.

2017            “Māturīdī Theology in the Ottoman Empire: Debating Human Choice and

Divine Power.” In Demir et al, ed. Osmanlı’da İlm-i Kelam: Alimler,

Eserler, Meseleler. 219-238. Istanbul: İSAR Yayınları, 2017.

 

ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES

 

2016            “Maturidism” [Under the entry “kalam”]. In Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim

World, 2nd ed: Scribner.

2012            “Family Life and Structure: Middle East 1250-1920.” In Cultural

Sociology of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa: SAGE Press.

2012           “Holy Places.” In Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought: Princeton University

Press.

 

BOOK REVIEWS

 

2014           Review of Islamic Thought in the Dialogue of Cultures: A Historical and

                    Bibliographical Survey, by Hans Daiber, Ilahiyat Studies, 5/2

2013           Review of Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy: Toward a

                    Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies, by Nader Hashemi, Review of

                    Middle East Studies, 47/2 (Winter)

2011           Review of Ottoman Medicine: Healing and Medical Institutions

1500-1700, by Miri Shefer-Mossensohn, Practical Matters 3 (Fall)

 

ONLINE PUBLICATIONS

 

2018           “Christianity and Islam: Ancient Hatreds, Modern Misrepresentations.” August 5.

Orthodoxy in Dialogue (orthodoxyindialogue.com)

2018           “Orthodoxy and Islam: Toward a Comparative Theology.” July 3. Orthodoxy in

Dialogue (orthodoxyindialogue.com)

2018           “Islamophobia Defined.” February 11. Orthodoxy in Dialogue

(orthodoxyindialogue.com)

2018           “Islamophobia and Orthodox Tradition.” January 5. Orthodoxy in Dialogue

(orthodoxyindialogue.com)

2014           “Conceptualizing Islam and Violence.” September 17. Muftah.

 

INVITED TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS

 

2018           Presentation on Maturidi’s metaphysics of justice, Uluslararası Matüridi İmam

Matüridi Çalıştayı [International Workshop on Imam Maturidi], Ankara

2018           “What Holds the Universe Together: A Proof of al-Maturidi for the Existence of God,”

invited talk given at undergraduate session of course “The Notion of God according to

Islamic Theology and Philosophy,” taught by Prof. Dr. Lejla Demiri at University of

Tubingen

2018           “Debating the Word of God in Islamic Theology: The Maturidi Tradition,” invited talk

given to graduate seminar taught by Prof. Dr. Lejla Demiri at University of Tubingen

2016            “Religious Studies in America,” invited talk on the academic study of religion in US

history and culture given at Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt (see also:

http://www.elbalad.news/2348354)

2016            “Abu Mansur al-Maturidi as Thinker and Theologian,” invited talk given to group on

university teachers and students in Cairo, Egypt

2016           Invited talk on current research on Maturidi, given to faculty members of Ankara

University Faculty of Divinity

2016           Invited talk on teaching Islamic Studies in the United States and current

research on Maturidi, given to group of students and civil servants at

the Women, Family, and Youth Center (KAGEM) associated with the

Turkish Ministry of Religious Affairs in Ankara, Turkey

2015            “Islam in the Turkish Republic: The Discourse and Praxis of Islamic

Modernism,” talk at the Institute of Turkish Studies at Georgetown

University

2014            “Institutionalizing Islamic Modernism: The History of the Divinity Faculty (İlahiyat

Fakültesi) in Turkey,” paper presented at colloquium “The Transformation of Turkey”

at the International Institute of Islamic Thought

2014            “Secular Humanism and Religious Reasoning: The ‘Immanent Frame’ of

Islamic Discourse in Contemporary Turkey,” paper presented at the annual

Mapping the Landscapes of Islamic Studies Conference at Indiana

University

2013            “Shared Conceptual Space: Exploring the Boundaries of Cultural Debate

in Contemporary Turkey,” keynote address during Turkey Week at

Georgia State University (part of university programming for International

Education Month, sponsored by the GSU Office of International Initiatives)

 

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

 

2019            “Traumatic Fragments: American Orthodox Discourse on Islam,” paper presented at

the conference “The Limits of Justice: Ethics, Law, and Theology in Christian Muslim

Relations,” held by the Christian-Muslim Studies Network; at Candler School of

Theology at Emory University, Atlanta

2019            “Modernity on the Western Border: Theology in the Ottoman and Russian Empires,”

paper presented at the first meeting of the International Orthodox Theological

Association, in Iaşi, Romania

2015            “Māturīdī Theology in the Ottoman Empire: Debating Human Choice and Divine

Power,” paper presented at Osmanlı’da İlm-i kelam Sempozyumu (Ottoman Kalam:

Scholars, Works and Problems), in Istanbul

2015            “ ‘The Turkish Understanding of Religion’: Rediscovering Maturidi in Modern Turkey,”

paper read by colleague at the International Symposium on Maturidism: Past, Present,

and Future, Ahmet Yesevi University, Kazakhstan

2014            “21st Century Antichrist: Depictions of Muslims and Islam in Popular

American Apocalyptic,” paper presented at the annual conference of

the Midwest Popular Culture/American Culture Association (October)

2013            “Theorizing Desire: Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi on the Power of

Homoerotic Attraction,” paper presented at the annual conference of the

Middle East Studies Association

2013            “Debating the Nature of the Sensual: Theological Uses of the Bodily in

Early Christian Kalam,” paper presented at the conference “Jewish

and Christian Reception(s) of Muslim Theology” sponsored by the

Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul

2013            “Islamic Confrontations with Patriarchy: Women and Religious Authority

                     in Contemporary Turkey,” paper presented at the 13th Annual

                     Southwest Graduate Conference in Middle Eastern and North African

                     Studies

2012            “Sacred Violence in Sacred History: War and Peace in Arabic Christian

Apologetics,” paper presented at the annual conference of the Middle

East Studies Association

2011            Participant in panel discussion conducted in Arabic on the events of the

Arab Spring, presented by faculty of the Emory University Department of

Middle East and South Asian Studies

2010            “‘The Turkish Understanding of Religion’: Sönmez Kutlu, Hanifi Özcan,

and the Epistemology of Cultural and Religious Pluralism,” paper

presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of

Religion

 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

 

2016            Invited panelist for event “Refugee Crisis on both sides of the Atlantic: Academic

perspectives and practical experiences,” Furman University Cultural Life Program

(Nov. 7)

2016            Faculty in-service presentation on Islam and Islamic extremism at St. Joseph’s

Catholic School in Greenville, SC (Apr. 13)

2016            Invited presentation on Islam and Islamic extremism to parishioners of Episcopal

Church of the Advent, Spartanburg, SC (Jan. 10)

2015            Invited presentation on Islam and Islamic extremism to select administration, faculty,

and students at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Greenville, SC (Nov. 23)

2015           Presentation on Syrian refugee crises as part of University of South Carolina public

discussion and panel on refugees in South Carolina (Nov. 11)

2015           Talk “Islam and the West” presented to Wofford alumni during homecoming weekend

(Oct. 23)

2015            Presentation on Syrian refugee crises as part of Wofford College public discussion and

panel on refugees in the Spartanburg community; interviews with local media affiliates

on refugee resettlement in Spartanburg, South Carolina (Sep. 24)

2015            Talk “Introducing Mystical Islam” at Spartanburg County Public Library

(Aug. 24)

 

GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS, AND AWARDS

 

2018:          Wofford College research funding for research on 1768 Qur’an manuscript written by

enslaved Muslim in South Carolina (Columbia and Charleston, SC)

2016-18:    Principal Investigator and grant administrator for Department of

Education UISFL college-wide grant to strengthen MENA Area Studies

at Wofford College

2017:          Wofford College Faculty Diversity and Inclusion Award

2017           Wofford College research funding for research on contacts with Muslims

in colonial South Carolina (Charleston, SC)

2016            Wofford College research funding for research on contemporary

developments in Islamic thought in Istanbul, Cairo, and Germany

2012            Emory University Laney Graduate School Professional Development

Support Funds for manuscript research at Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul

and Turkish National Library (Milli Kütüphanesi) in Ankara, summer 2011-2012

Emory University Laney Graduate School Professional Development

Support Funds for manuscript research at Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin and

text research at Turkish mosque centers in Berlin and Stuttgart, winter

2011 Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State for

overseas intensive language training in Turkish in Izmir, Turkey, summer

2010           Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State for

overseas intensive language training in Turkish in Ankara, Turkey,

summer

2009          Arts and Sciences Fellowship for entering doctoral students, Emory

University

2009           Indiana University Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

M. Amin-Zaki Fellowship for Excellence in Arabic

2008-09    Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship for the study of

Arabic from the Center for the Study of Global Change, Indiana

University

2008           Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship for the study of

Arabic from the Center for the Study of Global Change, Indiana

University

2008           Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State for

overseas intensive language training in Arabic in the Sultanate of Oman,

summer

 

TEACHING AREAS

 

Introduction to Religion/Religious Studies, Religion and Gender, Introduction to Islam, Islamic History, Islamic Theology, Contemporary Islam, Comparative Theology, Religion, Gender, and Sexuality; Christian-Muslim Relations

 

LANGUAGES

 

Classical Arabic: Reading Fluency

Modern Standard Arabic: Reading, Speaking, Writing Fluency

Modern Turkish: Reading, Speaking, Writing Fluency

German: Reading Proficiency