Elias, Jamal J.
Class of 1965 Term Professor of Religious Studies
Contact
215.898.5838
jjelias@sas.upenn.edu
www.sas.upenn.edu/~jjelias
Education
B.A., Stanford University (1983)
M.A., University of Pennsylvania (1985)
M.A., Yale University (1987)
Ph.D., Yale University (1991)
Languages
Arabic, French, Persian, Punjabi, Turkish (modern and Ottoman); Urdu-Hindi.
Courses
History of Islamic Civization, Islamic Ethics, Islam and Modernity, Sufism, Tafsir Literature, Religion and Visual Culture, Islamic Metaphysics
Overseas Research Experience
Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Morocco, Turkey, Pakistan, Uzbekistan
Recent Publications
Key Themes for the Study of Islam; "The Sufi Robe (khirqa) as a Vehicle of Spiritual Authority" in Robes and Honor: The Medieval World of Investiture, ed. Steward Gordon; "Truck Decoration and Religious Identity: Material Culture and Social Function in Pakistan" in Material Culture; "Sayyid 'Ali-yi Hamadani and the Making of His Charisma" in Muslim World; "Not Reading the Writing on the Wall: Monumental Calligraphy as Visual Sign" in Design: Essays on Popular Visual Culture and Iconography by Saima Zaidi.
Representative Awards and Distinctions
Council of the American Overseas Research Centers Fellow; Miner D. Crary Fellow, Amherst College; American Research Institute in Turkey Fellow; Dana Foundation Faculty Fellow.
Research Interests
Islamic mystical thought and metaphysics; Religion and Material Culture; Popular Culture in South Asia and Turkey; Sufi literature; Qur'anic Studies
