For immediate release:
April 21, 2005
Carnegie Corporation Announces 2005 Carnegie Scholars,
Including Mount Holyoke's Sohail Hashmi
Carnegie
Scholars Program Begins Focus on Islamic Scholarship
New
York, NY--Carnegie Corporation of New York has named Sohail Hashmi,
Associate Professor of International Relations at Mount Holyoke College,
as one
of sixteen Carnegie Scholars, all of whom will study themes focusing
on Islam and the modern world.
The goal of the Corporation's new emphasis on Islam is to encourage
the development and expansion of the study of Islam within the United
States and to
stimulate research on which to help build a body of thoughtful and
original scholarship.
In past years, scholars focused on the four program areas of the
Corporation. This year's scholars were selected from the largest number
of nominations
to date. They represent an array of U.S. universities and institutions,
indicating that Islam is an area of study that has wide interest.
The Corporation is concentrating the Carnegie Scholars program on Islam
over the next few years to make the field more central to American
research
and instruction, significantly expanding the breadth of knowledge
necessary to build leadership and guide national and foreign policy.
"The Corporation has decided to focus the Scholars Program on one specific area of vital importance: Islam," says Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation. "Our overall aim is to expand the range of scholarship in order to promote knowledge and understanding about Islam as a religion and about the cultures and communities of Muslim societies both in the United States and abroad."
Carnegie Scholars receive up to $100,000 over a two-year period to pursue
research. The 2005 class of scholars reflects a diversity of professional,
ethnic and geographical backgrounds. Notably, half the class are young,
having received a doctorate in or after 1994; one-third are women; and
several have lived in Muslim societies around the world. The range of
their professional fields includes Islamic studies, law, religion, history,
international relations, politics, anthropology and English and comparative
literature.
Carnegie Corporation launched the Carnegie Scholars Program in 1999
to support innovative and path-breaking scholarship on issues related
to Corporation
program areas. Candidates for the fellowships are first identified
by a distinguished group of nominators, then are evaluated and selected
in a competitive process by a committee of Carnegie Corporation program
leaders and external advisors. This year's class joins a group of 67
Carnegie Scholars who have been selected annually since 2000.
"The selection of the Carnegie Scholars is highly competitive," says Neil Grabois, vice president and director for strategic planning and program coordination for Carnegie Corporation. "Inasmuch as we want to encourage the study of Islam across the country, we look for intellectual risk-takers who will play a leading role in accomplishing this goal."
"We're particularly pleased at the number of younger scholars in this year's class," commented Patricia L. Rosenfield, chair of the Carnegie Scholars Program. "They are well-positioned to provide leadership in promoting research on Islam for years to come."
Carnegie Corporation of New York was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911
to promote "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding." As a grantmaking foundation, the Corporation seeks to carry out Carnegie's vision of philanthropy, which he said should aim "to do real and permanent good in this world." The Corporation's capital fund, originally donated at a value of about $135 million, had a market value of $1.9 billon on September 30, 2004. The Corporation awards grants totaling approximately $80 million a year in the areas of education, international peace and security, international development and strengthening U.S. democracy.
Details on Hashmi's project are:
Sohail H. Hashmi
Associate Professor of International Relations
Mount Holyoke College
Title: Islamic International Law and Public International Law: Convergence
or Dissonance?
Hashmi's research explores the current status of Islamic international
law in light of the formal accession of Muslim states to public international
law. Classical Islamic civilization developed a rich body of laws
intended
to govern the Islamic state's relations with Muslims and non-Muslims.
The theory behind these laws was based on two opposing spheres: dar
al-Islam,
practiced in Islamic states and grounded in interpretations of Islamic
texts and precedents, and dar al-harb, which included non-Muslim
legal systems from states and political entities that were conjoined
to the
Islamic empire as it expanded. Today, these aspects are debated by
those who argue that Muslim states should abide by Islamic principles,
in effect,
a Muslim alliance formed as a subset within the broader global community.
Others, the majority, generally accept prevailing international norms
in theory and practice. Hashmi proposes that Islamic values provide
a normative framework that informs Muslim political culture and shapes
domestic and international politics, and that Islam's fundamental
moralistic principles may be invoked for the consolidation and support
of positive
international law rules with the goal of achieving justice and promoting
humanity throughout the world. By analyzing how the universal precepts
of international law correlate to Muslim concepts and values, Hashmi
is expected to break new ground in understanding parallels between
Islamic
international law and public international law.
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