Noor Cultural Centre
    

The ‘Acceptable Muslim’ – by Dr. Shelina Kassam

Nov 7th 2018
 
The Acceptable Muslim and Boundaries of Racialized Inclusion in Canada
by Dr. Shelina Kassam
 
 
In this lecture – based on her research – Dr. Shelina Kassam traces the emergence of the ‘Acceptable Muslim’ in Canadian public, political and cultural discourse.   She theorizes that the figure of the Acceptable Muslim sustains the narrative of the Canadian nation-state as liberal, democratic, secular, modern and inclusive, even as it relentlessly excludes, punishes and eliminates the Muslim Other.
Grounded in theories of Orientalism, racialization, citizenship and secularism, Dr. Kassam’s research is based on an analysis of Canadian media discourse about Muslims over a ten-year period (2005-2014) and analyses of the work of key Acceptable Muslim Figures.
 
Shelina Kassam is a critical race scholar whose current research concentrates on Muslims in contemporary Western multicultural nation-states. Using postcolonial, feminist and critical race analyses, she focuses especially on the Acceptable Muslim in media, public and political discourses, a figure who reanimates racialized boundaries of citizenship. Since 2007, she has taught at the University of Toronto Mississauga (Division of Women and Gender Studies) and teaches courses such as Critical Race Theory, Representations of Muslims, Gender and Islam, and Muslims and Multiculturalism.
Shelina has had a long history, both professional and voluntary, with educational, social justice and not-for-profit organizations in Canada and internationally.
Shelina received her BA from Simon Fraser University, her MA from McGill University and a PhD from the University of Toronto.
 
Date: Sunday October 21, 2018
Time: 2-4 pm
Location: Lower Social Room, Noor Cultural Centre 
Admission: $5





MOST RECENT