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

哈佛大学博士生南希·A·哈利勒将在史蒂文·C·卡顿博士的指导下，对穆斯林少数民族提出的世俗法律索赔进行研究。这项研究将集中在当地的恐怖主义审判和三个穆斯林美国机构：一个高等教育机构，一个清真寺和一个社区发展组织。除了在审判期间已经收集的材料之外，该项目还增加了这三个机构的实地材料，旨在了解为什么以及如何为应对反恐气氛而推行和产生(以及由谁)“美国伊斯兰教”。这位研究人员将在大波士顿地区进行为期12个月的实地研究。使用各种社会科学研究方法，包括：与机构行为者的访谈，在机构活动和方案中的参与者观察，以及战略规划会议。这些材料将被分析，并与审判记录和实地笔记进行比较，使用定性数据分析软件来详细跟踪法律(通过法庭证词)和社区(通过这些机构)是如何融合和背离他们对“美国伊斯兰教”的塑造的。这项研究很重要，因为它的结果可以帮助定性地理解后9·11事件的气候如何影响美国伊斯兰教的形成。美国、穆斯林、伊斯兰教和穆斯林世界之间的关系日益受到媒体和政策的高度关注。对一个表面上拥有宗教自由权利的国家的法律干预采取独立、主动的回应的地方经验，可以提供一种视角，挑战关于伊斯兰教和世俗主义的许多普遍的学术假设。这对于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尤其重要。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.