Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Legal Anthropological Analysis of Secularism and Religious Freedom

哈佛大学博士候选人南希·a·哈利勒（Nancy A. Khalil）将在史蒂文·c·卡顿（Steven C. Caton）博士的指导下，对穆斯林少数民族提出的世俗法律要求进行研究。研究将集中在一个当地的恐怖主义审判和三个美籍穆斯林机构：一个高等教育机构、一个清真寺和一个社区发展组织。将这三家机构的实地资料与试验期间已经收集的资料相结合，该项目旨在了解“美国伊斯兰”为何以及如何被追求和生产（以及由谁）以应对反恐气候。研究人员将在大波士顿地区进行12个月的实地研究。使用各种社会科学研究方法，包括：与机构参与者的访谈，机构事件和项目的参与者观察，以及战略规划会议。这些材料将通过定性数据分析软件与审判记录和现场记录进行分析和比较，以讨论性地跟踪法律（通过法庭证词）和社区（通过这些机构）在塑造“美国伊斯兰教”方面是如何趋同和分化的。这项研究很重要，因为它的结果有助于定性地理解9-11后的气候是如何影响美国伊斯兰教的形成的。美国、穆斯林、伊斯兰教和穆斯林世界之间的关系越来越受到媒体和政策的重视。阐明一个地方的经验，即对一个拥有表面上的宗教自由权利的国家的法律干预作出独立、积极的反应，可以提供一个挑战许多关于伊斯兰教和世俗主义的主流学术假设的视角。对于那些以国家安全和维护自由世俗民主社会的价值观为目标的政策制定者来说，这一点尤其有价值。资助这项研究也有助于研究生的教育。

Harvard University doctoral candidate Nancy A. Khalil, supervised by Dr. Steven C. Caton, will undertake research on secular legal claims brought by Muslim minorities. The research will be focused on a local terrorism trial and three Muslim-American institutions: a higher education institute, a mosque, and a community development organization. Adding field material from these three institutions to material already collected during the trial, the project aims to understand why and how an "American Islam" is pursued and produced (and by who) in response to the anti-terror climate. The researcher will undertake twelve months of field research in the greater Boston-area. Using a variety of social science research methods, including: interviews with institutional actors, participant-observation at institutional events and programs, as well as strategic planning meetings. This material will be analyzed and compared to trial transcripts and field notes using qualitative data analysis software to discursively track how the law (through court testimony) and the community (through these institutions) are converging and diverging in their shaping of an "American Islam."This research is important because its results can contribute a qualitative understanding of how the post 9-11 climate infuses the shaping of an American Islam. Increasingly, the relationship between America, Muslims, Islam, and the Muslim world has received significant media and policy attention. Elucidating a local experience of an independent, proactive response to perceived legal interference of a state with ostensible religious freedom rights can offer a perspective that challenges many of the prevailing scholarly assumptions about Islam and secularism. This is particularly valuable for policymakers whose objective is national security and preserving the values of a liberal-secular democratic society. Funding this research also contributes to the education of a graduate student.