Muslim Journeys Bookshelf

Boatwright Memorial Library has recently acquired a set of books and films on the topic of Islamic society and culture.  These books were selected by scholars and reflect five broad themes as a way of exploring the diversity of Muslim thought and experience.  We hope that these resources and the public events that we are hosting in 2013 will encourage you to learn and take your own 'Muslim Journey', no matter what your personal background.

The themes are explored more fully on the individual tabs of this guide, each of which features the five books in the theme, an essay by the scholar that chose the books, more suggestions for further exploration from our library collections, and additional resources.  The five themes are:

• American Stories - books by and about Muslims living in the United States, from the 1800's to the present.
• Connected Histories - books about the scientific, commercial, and political interactions between the empires of the West and the Islamic East.
• Literary Reflections - Classic and contemporary works of Muslim writers in a variety of literary genres.
• Pathways of Faith - Works dealing with the Islamic faith itself, especially as examined by non-Muslims.
• Points of View - Personal reflections on Islamic culture from writers inside, on the margins, and outside.

Additional tabs have more details on the resources and themes of the collection. 

Boatwright Memorial library has been awarded the “Muslim Journeys Bookshelf” by submitting a competitive application to the National Endowment for the Humanities Bridging Cultures initiative.  The University of Richmond library is among 842 libraries nationwide and 32 libraries in Virginia named to receive the collection of 25 books and three films, along with additional materials such as bookmarks, bookplates, posters and access to an online journal that will help to introduce the American public to the complex history and culture of Muslims in the United States and around the world.
 
The University of Richmond’s application, crafted by Lucretia McCulley, the library’s Head of Scholarly Communications, and Emily Cobb,  the Chaplaincy’s Director of Multifaith Initiatives, includes a plan for a number of related events, open to the campus population as well as to the greater Richmond community. A collaboration is envisioned with the Faith Forum, a local organization that provides educational programs to strengthen interfaith understanding in central Virginia

The Bridging Cultures Bookshelf: Muslim Journeys is a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities, conducted in cooperation with the American Library Association, the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University, Oxford University Press, and Twin Cities Public Television. Support was provided by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. Additional support for the arts and media components was provided by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art.

Local programming partners include the University of Richmond Chaplaincy and the Faith Forum.