The project entails in-depth research in five European countries. The team includes 5 national leads:
United Kingdom
Project Leader: Frederic Volpi,
University of Edinburgh, Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World.
Frederic Volpi is the Chair, Politics of the Muslim World, Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and Director, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World. His research engages with the contemporary issues of democratization and Islamism in the Muslim world, with a particular focus on North Africa.
He earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2000. Before coming to Edinburgh in 2018, he was in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews. He also taught and researched at Sussex University, Bristol University, and Sciences Po., Paris.
Poland
Katarzyna Górak-Sosnowska,
SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Institute of International Studies
Katarzyna Górak-Sosnowska is the head of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at SGH Warsaw School of Economics and an associate professor in the Department of Political Studies of the College of Economics and Social Sciences. Her research spans Muslim popular culture and religious life, economics and politics of Arab states and Muslims in Poland.
She completed her PhD in economics from the Collegium of Socio-Economics of the Warsaw School of Economics on the topic of The Arab World and Globalization. Economic, cultural, and social conditions.
Sweden
Göran Larsson,
University of Gothenburg, Department of Literature, History of Ideas, and Religion
Göran Larsson is a professor of Religious Studies and the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Gothenburg. He is also a Guest Professor at the Department of Police Education at Borås University. His research focuses on Islamic Theology and Quranic studies as well as the interrelation between the media and religion. He has written on Muslims in Europe, and Swedish Muslims, and researched and trained in methods of countering extremism.
Spain
Avraham Astor,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Sociology,
Avraham Astor is an Associate Professor in Sociology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a member of Research in Sociology of Religion, ISOR. He has written on a variety of topics specialising in Spain and its interaction with religion, Islam, culture, identity, and intergroup relations. He received his doctorate in Sociology from the University of Michigan in 2011. Before joining ISOR, he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow with GRITIM-UPF and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Tel Aviv University.
Lithuania
Egdunas Racius,
Vytautas Magnus University, Cultural Studies,
Egdunas Racius is a Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at Vytautas Magnus University. He is the Reviews Editor of the Journal of Muslims in Europe and a co-editor of the Yearbook of Muslims in Europe. His research interests include Muslim communities and governance of religion (particularly Islam) in post-communist Europe. Outside of University, he is a consultant to Lithuanian state institutions and NGOs advising on immigration, integration, religious radicalization, and securitization of Islam in Europe.
COOPERATION PARTNERS:
Albert King,
Digital Directorate of the Scottish Government
In 2007, Albert King began his career in the Scottish government and subsequently held several different positions before securing the leading position in the Data & Digital Identity Division in April 2020. Looking back over his past 15 years of experience,
Kings says: “Over the time I’ve been in government,
I’ve seen how data has moved from being something that is seen too often as niche and the preserve of analysts and technical people to something central to our ambitions – to enable better, higher quality public services; better decision making and better outcomes for Scotland’s people.”
Source: https://www.holyrood.com/news/view,albert-king-reflects-on-his-time-as-scottish-governments-chief-data-officer
Safia Shahid,
Women’s Muslim College
Shaykha Safia Shahid is a leading scholar exemplifying Islam’s rich tradition and history of female scholarship. She has delivered talks at universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College, Warwick, Aston, York, Middlesex, Birmingham, Nottingham and many others. In 2015, she was awarded a BISCA Award for Outstanding Contribution to Women’s Empowerment.
Source: https://www.womensmuslimcollege.com/instructor/Safia
Isak Reichel,
Swedish Agency for Support to Faith Communities
Isak Reichel is the Director and Head of Authority at the Authority for Support to Religious Communities. The state agency provides monetary aid to religious communities in Sweden in order to strengthen and enable ties between the religious communities and the national state.
Source: https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vast/stod-till-trossamfund-ses-over
Zouhair El Hairan,
Euro-Arab Youth Organization
Zouhair Hairan is a Media Professional, Researcher, and Political Scientist. He is the Secretary of the Euro-Arab youth organization and a member of the Young Group of the UNESCO Association for Inter-religious Dialogue (AUDIR). Euro-Arab is an organization of experts trained in a variety of fields for the sake of solving complex educational, humanitarian, and transnational problems for a just and fairer world.
Montserrat Suárez Romero,
Barcelona City Department of Inter-culturalism and Religious Pluralism
