Faculty and K-16 educators are invited to participate in the bi-annual Consortium for Educational Resources on Islamic Studies Faculty Readers' Forum.
Spring 2027 Book Discussion February 16, 2027 @ 6:30 PM Online
Fire From Every Direction: A Memoir by Tareq Baconi
The discussion will be led by Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies, Raed El Rafei, University of Pittsburgh. In addition, El Rafei, is an independent filmmaker, film scholar, and multimedia journalist. His feature films include: 74 (The Reconstitution of a Struggle) (2012) and Here I am ... Here you are (2016).
Register here for the Baconi Book Discussion:
About the book: From renowned Palestinian scholar Tareq Baconi, a powerful memoir of political and queer awakening, of impossible love amidst generations of displacement, and what it means to return home.
An “intimate, mesmerizing meditation on dispossession” (Omar El Akkad, New York Times bestselling author), Fire in Every Direction will stay with you long after you turn the final page.
The Consortium for Educational Resources on Islamic Studies (CERIS) is a collaborative network of academic institutions throughout the tri-state region of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. CERIS facilitates the development of educational programs and the dissemination of information and resources related to Islamic Studies for students, faculty, and the broader communities we serve.
Islamic Studies is an interdisciplinary field encompassing a wide range of languages, literatures, cultures, histories, and academic disciplines. Its scope extends from the seventh century to the present and spans diverse geographical regions around the world.
Through collaboration and the sharing of resources among member organizations, CERIS expands educational and scholarly opportunities at participating institutions and in the wider community. We connect our members with valuable resources and information, including funding opportunities for scholarly research, guest speakers, film screenings, conferences, educational programs, and course offerings.
To receive updates about CERIS events contact cerisnet@gmail.com
PREVIOUS CERIS BOOK DISCUSSIONS
Hate Your Policies, Love Your Institutions by John Waterbury, in Foreign Affairs, January/February 2003
No God but God: Egypt and the Triumph of Islam by Geneive Abdo
The Ornament of the World by Maria Rosa Menocal
Approaching the Qur'an: The Early Revelations by Michael Anthony Sells
Orientalism by Edward Wadie Said
Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World by Carl M. Ernst
Servants of Allah: African Muslims Enslaved in the Americas by Sylvian A. Diouf
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi
Islam Without Fear: Egypt and the New Islamists by Raymond William Baker
Islam and the Secular State, Negotiating the Future of Shari’a by Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im
City of Oranges, An Intimate History of Arabs and Jews in Jaffa by Adam LeBor
The Crisis of Islamic Civilization by Ali Allawi
The Long Journey, In Search of Justice and Peace in Jerusalem by James G. Paharik
Journey into America: The Challenge of Islam by Akbar Ahmed
House of Stone by Anthony Shadid
In the House of Men by Hisham Matar
The Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
Paradise Beneath Her Feet, How Women Are Transforming the Middle East by Isobel Coleman
Revolution 2.0 by Wael Ghonim
Mornings In Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
Saint and the Sultan: The Crusades, Islam, and Francis of Assisi's Mission of Peace by Paul Moses
Who is Allah, by Bruce B. Lawrence
A Sultan in Palermo: A Novel (The Islam Quintet), by Tariq Ali
Thomas Jefferson's Quran: Islam and the Founder by Denise A. Spellberg
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
Beyond Timbuktu by Ousmane Oumar Kane
The Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine
Islam After Communism by Adeeb Khalid
The Bible and the Qur'an: Biblical Figures in the Islamic Tradition by Younus Mirza and John Kaltner
Jihad, Radicalism and the New Atheism by Mohammad Hassan Khalil
Who are the Uyghurs (selected readings)
Faces of Muhammad, Western Perceptions of the Prophet of Islam from the Middle Ages to Today by John V. Tolan
Paths of Accommodation, Muslim Societies and French Colonial Authorities in Senegal and Mauritania by David Robinson
Call Me American By Ibdi Nor Iftin
Meursault Investigation by Kamel Doued
Black Star, Crescent Moon: The Muslim International and Black Freedom beyond America by Sohail Daulatzai.
I Cannot Write My Life, Islam, Arabic and Slavery in Omar Ibn Said's America by Mbaye Lo and Carl W. Ernst
Elastic Empire: Refashioning War through Aid in Palestine by Lisa Bhungalia
Age of Coexistence: The Ecumenical Frame and the Making of the Modern Arab World by Ussama Makdisi
The Return, Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between by Hisham Matar
Muslim Families in Global Senegal (Money Takes Care of Shame) by Beth Buggenhagen.
Crescent Over Another Horizon: Islam in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latino USA by Maria del Mar Logroño Narbona, Paulo G. Pinto, John Tofik Karam