CHR Summer Fellow Research Talk: PhD Candidate Mohamed Mohamed (Sociology and Anthropology), “Selling God: Al-Azhar, UAE and Transubstantiation of Religious Capital"

Tuesday, January 23, 2024 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM EST
Horizon Hall 6325

Mohamed Mohamed is a PhD candidate at the George Mason University’s Department of Sociology and Anthropology. His work draws from the sociology of religion, political sociology, and theories of globalization to examine how and under what circumstances might domestic religious actors influence global politics. Prior to embarking on his PhD journey, Mohamed earned two master’s degrees: one in Islamic Studies from the George Washington University, where he was a Fulbright scholar, and another in Middle Eastern Studies from King’s College London, where he was a Chevening scholar. Additionally, he recently conducted a research visit at the University of Oxford Department of International Development (ODID), focusing on a project titled "Beyond the Instrumentalization Thesis: The Reconfiguration of al-Azhar-State Relationship in Post-Coup Egypt."

At CHR, Mohamed will be working on a project centered around an interdisciplinary exploration of the complex intersections between sociology of religion, political sociology, and globalization theories. Specifically, hisdoctoral research seeks to comprehensively examine the dynamics of the relationship between domestic religious actors and the broader global political landscape. Through the dissertation, entitled “Beyond the National: The Role of al-Azhar in Global Politics After 9/11”, Mohamed embarked on a comprehensive investigation of the myriad ways in which al-Azhar — a thousand-year-old prestigious Sunni religious edifice — has been intricately involved in transnational politics over the past two decades. Building on the existing literature, he contends that the majority of studies on the intersection of al-Azhar and politics are limited by a methodological approach that is anchored in national frameworks, failing to consider the broader transnational phenomena that transcend parochial nationalistic perspectives. Drawing upon his interdisciplinary background, his research offers an alternative epistemological and methodological framework, that traces the discursive evolution of al-Azhar’s global political role and investigates the factors that have been conducive to its formation. Through this lens, Mohamed aim to offer a comprehensive understanding of the complex interplay between religion, politics, and globalization, ultimately contributing to the broader discourse on the intersection of religion and global politics. 

Please join us in person in Horizon Hall 6325 or on zoom for a presentation and discussion. Zoom link will be provided through CHR's newsletter which you can sign up for HERE.