Muslim American History and Life

FAIN: FV-256712-17

Trustees of Indiana University, Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN 46202-3288)
Edward E. Curtis (Project Director: February 2017 to November 2021)

A three-week seminar for sixteen school teachers on the history and cultures of Muslims in the United States.

The purpose of this three-week seminar for K-12 educators, a version of which was successfully offered in 2015 and will be offered again in 2017, is to strengthen teaching about Muslim American history and contemporary life. Focusing on primary sources and supplemented by visits to two mosques in the greater Indianapolis area, the seminar will prepare sixteen participants to teach about a key question of our historical moment: what does it mean to be both Muslim and American? This seminar will emphasize the richness and diversity of Muslim American voices, offering balanced, complex, and informed answers to this question. In addition, participants will research areas of special relevance to their classes and prepare presentations on how to incorporate the seminar’s themes into their teaching. As a result, teachers will return home ready to inspire their students to greater intellectual understanding of America, including its history and its contemporary life.

Associated Products

Indianapolis Imam Warith Deen Muhammad Community Digital Archive (Database/Archive/Digital Edition)
Title: Indianapolis Imam Warith Deen Muhammad Community Digital Archive
Author: Edward E. Curtis IV
Author: IUPUI Center for Digital Scholarship
Abstract: The Indianapolis Imam Warith Deen Muhammad Community collection documents the life of an African American Muslim community that has been part of Indianapolis since the 1950s. Established as “Muhammad’s Mosque” on Indiana Avenue, the community was first aligned with the teachings of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad and then after 1975, with Elijah Muhammad’s son and heir, Warith Deen Muhammad, better known as W. Deen Mohammed. Now called the Nur Allah (Light of God) Islamic Center, this congregation has become known in central Indiana for its commitment to civic engagement and interfaith activities. The collection documents its members’ involvement in public life while also shedding light on the congregation’s religious activities.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://ulib.iupui.edu/collections/IWDC
Access Model: Open Access

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