The Center for the Study of Islam (CSI), University of Southern California

The Center for the Study of Islam (CSI) at the University of Southern California (USC) is positioned within the School of Religion. CSI serves as a focal point for scholarly and interdisciplinary engagement with Islamic civilizations, history, and thought, engaging faculty, students, and broader communities in critical exploration and dialogue. The Center supports intellectual exploration across multiple disciplinary perspectives, including religious studies, political theory, gender studies, and anthropology. Its activities provide students direct access to leading scholars, intellectuals, and practitioners in the field of Islamic studies (USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, n.d.).

Establishment and Founders

There is no publicly available, detailed record specifying the exact year of establishment or the explicit founders of a Center formally called "CSI" at USC. However, USC’s School of Religion has a Global Islam track and a Center for Islamic Thought, Culture and Practice. These initiatives were established to extend deeper academic engagement with Islamic traditions and foster diverse scholarly exchange (USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, n.d.).

Mission and Vision

Mission:

The Center’s mission is to foster intellectual exploration and dialogue on Islamic traditions locally and globally, extend research on Islamic thought and its intersections with contemporary issues, and train students in the critical analysis of Islamic texts, traditions, and modern contestations (USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, n.d.).

Vision:

The vision includes promoting pluralism, interreligious understanding, and public engagement, while preparing scholars and students to address challenges and questions pertinent to Muslims around the world in a global context (USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, n.d.).

Goals and Objectives

• Broaden Academic Inquiry: Integrate study of global Islam beyond traditional geographic boundaries, accounting for the role and impact of Islam in various regions and diasporic communities.
• Interdisciplinary Engagement: Enable students and scholars to draw on tools and methods from diverse fields (e.g., political science, anthropology, media studies).
• Foster Dialogue: Serve as a site for intellectual exchange among scholars, practitioners, and the general public on contemporary issues facing Muslim societies.
• Curricular Development: Facilitate rigorous academic programs that equip students with research, language, and analytical skills specific to Islamic studies.
• Community Connection: Create networks supporting community outreach, interfaith initiatives, and policy engagement regarding Islam and Muslim affairs (USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, n.d.).

History

The University of Southern California (USC) has a long tradition of engagement with the study of Islam and global Muslim communities, integrating multidisciplinary perspectives such as anthropology, political theory, and media studies. The School of Religion at USC Dornsife is home to initiatives on Islamic thought and practice, with programs and tracks that cover the historical, textual, and contemporary aspects of Islam. The Center for Islamic Thought, Culture and Practice specifically serves as a hub for intellectual discussion and exposure to leading scholars and practitioners in Islamic studies (USC Dornsife, 2024).

Location

USC School of Religion

825 Bloom Walk, ACB 130

Los Angeles, CA 90089-1481

USA

(USC Dornsife, 2024)

Financial Sponsors

While detailed financial sponsor lists for CSI are not specifically published, funding for Islamic studies at USC broadly comes from university resources, endowments, and selected public and private grants. There is no evidence of major individual or international sponsors directly tied to CSI. For broader Islamic studies support, national foundations such as the Foundation for Islamic Scholarship and Teaching exist, which support scholars and programs nationwide, but no direct sponsorship relationship is indicated with USC (Foundation for Islamic Scholarship and Teaching, 2025).

Website and Contact Information

School of Religion, University of Southern California (Dornsife):

• Website: https://dornsife.usc.edu/religion/graduate-study/global-islam/
• Email: religion@dornsife.usc.edu
• Phone: (213) 740-0270
• Administrative Assistant: Linda Wootton (wootton@usc.edu)
• Project Specialist: Johnna Tyrrell (johnnaty@usc.edu)

(USC Dornsife, 2024)

Key Fields of Concentration (Research)

Global Islam and Muslim Communities:

• CSI’s research explores Islam as a transregional and global phenomenon, moving beyond traditional geographical boundaries (Middle East, Africa, South and Southeast Asia) to consider diverse Muslim experiences and discourses worldwide.
• Textual Tradition and Modern Analysis:

Critical reading and analysis of foundational texts in Islamic religious sciences are central, combined with interdisciplinary methods from fields such as anthropology, international relations, gender studies, and media studies (USC Dornsife, 2024).

• Contestation, Innovation, and Tradition:

Research investigates contemporary innovations and revisionist discourses among Muslims, focusing on contestations over tradition and modernity.

Activities and Contributions

• Intellectual Exchange:

CSI provides opportunities for students and community members to engage with leading scholars and practitioners through lectures, seminars, and collaborative events focused on global Islamic thought, culture, and practice (USC Dornsife, 2024; USC Dornsife, 2025, June 18)).

• Graduate and Undergraduate Training:

The center is integral in graduate tracks such as the “Global Islam” program, providing structured coursework (e.g., REL 525, REL 625, REL 650) and supporting research language acquisition tailored to students’ areas of specialization (USC Dornsife, 2024).

• Community Engagement:

CSI promotes scholarly and public dialogue on issues such as Muslim civic life, the impacts of Islamophobia, and the evolving role of Muslims in public service. Notable efforts include conferences on American Muslims in public service and civic leadership development programs (USC Dornsife, 2025, June 18).

Publishing, Significant Reports, and Impacts

• Scholarly Publications:

CSI-affiliated researchers contribute articles and books on Islamic law, theology, gender, politics, and the lived experiences of Muslims globally. Faculty and graduate students conduct research in primary Islamic source languages and produce work on legal, philosophical, and sociopolitical dimensions (Voice of America News, 2011, February 18).

• Reports and Policy Impact:

The center has played a public role in advancing knowledge about Islam in civic society, including organizing conferences addressing the representation and inclusion of Muslims in American public life. For example, the “American Muslims in Public Service” conference has contributed to policy and community discussions impacting civic engagement (USC Dornsife, 2025, June 18).

• Leadership and Civic Training:

Through the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute, CSI has supported the emergence of new generations of Muslim American leaders, with programs aimed at enhancing participation and visibility in civic life, and addressing contemporary challenges such as anti-Muslim prejudice (CITCAP, 2015).

Prominent Research Figures

One of the most distinguished scholars affiliated with the Center for the Study of Islam at USC is Sherman Jackson, the King Faisal Chair of Islamic Thought and Culture and Professor of Religion and American Studies and Ethnicity. Jackson specializes in classical Islamic studies, including law, theology, and intellectual history, with a focus on the realities of modern Islam in the West, particularly within American Muslim communities. He is a co-founder and board member of the American Learning Institute for Muslims and recognized among the world’s 500 most influential Muslims by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre (USC Dornsife, 2024; USC Provost, 2024). Other notable faculty with relevant expertise include scholars in sociology, religion, and Middle East studies who contribute to related interdisciplinary research and teaching at USC Dornsife (USC Dornsife, 2024).

Relations to the Islamic World

CSI maintains intellectual and cultural connections with the broader Islamic world through its emphasis on the “global Islam” framework that extends beyond traditional regional boundaries (Middle East, Africa, South and Southeast Asia). This conceptual approach nurtures scholarship and exchange that reflect the diversity of Muslim experiences worldwide, fostering critical engagement with Islamic traditions and contemporary debates. Faculty members often engage in research involving Qur’anic studies, Islamic law, history, and public culture that connects USC students and scholars to global Muslim intellectual traditions (USC Dornsife, 2024; USC Dornsife, 2024).

Partnerships

CSI collaborates with centers and institutes focused on religion and civic culture, such as USC’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture, which advances understanding of religion’s role in public life and supports civic leadership programs for American Muslims. Furthermore, partnerships extend to academic, community, and civic organizations that promote scholarship on Islam and Muslim communities, along with training future Muslim leaders through initiatives like the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute. These partnerships broaden access to resources and diversify scholarly and engagement opportunities within USC and beyond (USC Dornsife, 2024; Voice of America News, 2011).

Critique of its work or hidden objectives

There is no direct evidence or documented critique from Iran’s official or scholarly perspective explicitly addressing the Center for the Study of Islam (CSI) at the University of Southern California, or alleging hidden objectives behind its work in the available sources. The U.S.-Iran relationship remains tense and complex, and cultural or academic initiatives around Islam in the U.S. (including those at USC) could generally be viewed with some suspicion by Iranian authorities given the historic political rivalry and concerns about U.S. influence (Treverton, 2025).

Iran’s critique of foreign cultural or educational institutions often emerges in the broader context of perceived cultural and political competition, especially regarding Western initiatives that promote alternative narratives of Islam or Muslim identity divergent from those endorsed by the Islamic Republic (McHale, 2016). For example, Iran’s cultural diplomacy emphasizes Persian heritage and Shia Islamic thought through its own networks such as the Islamic Cultural Relations Organization and associated cultural centers, which Iran sees as promoting authentic Iranian and Islamic culture abroad, distinct from Western academic approaches (McHale, 2016).

Regarding higher education and religious studies more generally, Iran has itself sought to “Islamize” social sciences and humanities in its universities to maintain ideological control, indicating wariness toward foreign intellectual influences and liberal or secular approaches to Islam and society as espoused in many Western academic centers (RFE/RL, 2010; IranWire, 2025). This illustrates the broader intellectual and political friction context in which CSI operates, but again, no specific critique of CSI from Iran is publicly documented.

In sum, while U.S.-Iran geopolitical tensions and divergent interpretations of Islam underpin cautious or critical attitudes from Iran toward U.S.-based Islamic studies centers, there are no explicit or publicly available claims accusing USC’s CSI of hidden agendas or direct critique from Iran in the sources consulted.