FAQ

What type of research does the Centre conduct?

At this stage, the Centre has a strong sociological, anthropological and historical focus on the study of contemporary Muslim groups in Australia and in the rest of world. It does not follow a theological focus as we do not study religious content in sacred texts. Rather, the research that we conduct explores what people do with their religion and how their religion interacts with other religious and non-religious groups in contemporary societies -in other words, how people live their religion.

Information on research currently being conducted may be found on the Centre’s Current Research Projects page.

In the future, we hope to undertake research on the reception of Shari’a in various societies, including Australia, United Kingdom, The United States and France, in order to understand better the relationship between the Muslim community and host societies which are, in constitutional terms, secular. The Centre is also interested in creating a research programme on Muslim financial institutions.

What type of teaching does the Centre do?

CSCMS is a research centre and is not responsible for undergraduate units. Centre staff do, however, teach units in both the Islamic Studies Programme, offered by the School of Humanities and Languages, as well as the Sociology Programme within the School of Social Sciences. The Centre focuses on postgraduate studies and offers Master and Doctoral degrees by research thesis.

What religions do the Centre’s staff practice?

The research that we conduct is independent from the religious and non-religious background of our staff. We follow a methodological agnostic approach, which is to say that we do not bring our religious beliefs into the research that we conduct. This follows a long-standing tradition in the social scientific study of religion that has seen both religious and atheistic scholars conduct research in this field without letting their religious and/or non-religious beliefs influence the interpretation and reporting of social data.

What is the link between the UWS Centre for the Study  of Contemporary Muslim Societies and the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies?       

The Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies has been established at UWS under the umbrella of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies (NCEIS). The NCEIS brings together the University of Melbourne, Griffith University and the University of Western Sydney and aims to develop research programs that will advance Australian and international understanding of Islam and promote harmony and cultural inclusiveness.

The UWS Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies expands the research profile of NCEIS by focusing on the study of Muslim communities and how they fit into and adapt to secular societies. The research focus of the Centre includes:

• how Muslim culture and communities evolve over time
• how to encourage greater intercultural harmony within Australia
• the future of multicultural Australia and the place of Muslim Australians within it
• conducting comparative studies on international Muslim communities in cosmopolitan culture

In what way is the Centre linked with the community?

Although the primary focus of the Centre is to conduct academic research and to report the findings of this research at academic conferences and via scholarly publication, the Centre is committed to sharing its knowledge, findings and expertise with the wider community. By the wider community, we refer not only to the Muslim community and other religious groups, but also to the media, to government agencies and to other interested parties. We are also interested in developing research projects with the community. On occasion, and depending on the resources available to us, we also offer in-kind support and/or advice to groups promoting community activities that encourage multicultural harmony within Australia.

What is the goal of the Centre’s Public Workshops and  Public Lecture Series?

In the spirit of spreading knowledge and facilitating discussion, the Centre invites members of the community and academics alike to speak on divergent topics relating to Muslims in contemporary societies. The material from these public workshops and lectures may include views or recommendations of third parties which do not necessarily reflect the views of the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies or indicate its commitment to a particular course of action.