K. Humayun Ansari, OBE, PhD (London)

Professor of Islam and Cultural Diversity

Director of the Centre for Minority Studies

I am interested in aspects of contemporary Islam in the Western context, British history, politics, and race and ethnic relations. The focus of my research has been on the growth of Muslim communities in Britain. This work provides a historical perspective on the development of the diverse communities in Britain which have continued to adhere to Islam as their common faith. My research examines the history of Muslim presence in the changing contexts from the nineteenth century. Themes of race, gender, identity and globalization in the sphere of current sports history and politics are an emerging focus of my work. An additional area of research interest for me is cultural diversity in the West in the twenty-first century.

David Cesarani, OBE, PhD (Oxford)

Research Professor in History

Research Interests

Modern Jewish history and culture in Europe, Britain and North America, especially Jewish immigration and settlement; identity, ethnicity and 'race'; modern German history; genocide

Professor Cesarani's research interests fall broadly within the field of modern Jewish history and culture, with the accent on the relations between Jews and non-Jews, but touch on many, necessarily allied subjects including ethnicity and 'race', immigration and citizenship, modern German history and genocide.

Faissal Hameed, PhD (Birmingham)

Lecturer in Islamic History and Politics

Faissal Hameed is Lecturer in Islamic History and Politics. He has a BA (Hons) in the History and Politics of the Near and Middle East and an MA in African/Asian History from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London and a PhD in the History and Politics of Islamic Revivalism in South Asia from the University of Birmingham. His specialisation is in the fields of the modern history of the Middle East and Islamic societies and in contemporary Islam and its relations to politics in the Muslim world. He has lectured extensively within the field of Islam and politics and over a broad range of related subject areas as well as historical ‘time-periods’. Along with teaching, he has supervised students (undergraduates and postgraduates) for research-based dissertations. He is interviewed by the media on Muslim affairs and has offered seminars at various national fora and has taught at the University of Birmingham and Birkbeck College, University of London. He is presently Acting Dean of the Muslim College, London and a lecturer at the Department of Continuing Education, University of Oxford and the Foundation for International Education, London.

Research

South Asian history with special reference to the politics of Islamic identity in Pakistan; Jamaat-i Islami and Pakistan; Islamic revivalism in South Asia; debates in contemporary Islam and their relations to politics; Modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history.

Oliver Leaman, PhD (Cambridge)

Professor of Philosophy and Zantker Professor of Judaic Studies

Research

Oliver Leaman is particularly interested in Islamic, Jewish and Eastern philosophy.

Oliver Leaman is currently teaching at the University of Kentucky, USA. He previously taught in England and the Middle East. He writes mainly in the area of Islamic and Jewish philosophy, and his most recent publications are Islamic Aesthetics: an Introduction (Edinburgh University Press), Islam: the Key Facts, co-written with Kecia Ali, and Jewish Thought: an Introduction, both published by Routledge. He organised the second edition of Ninian Smart's World Philosophies, which appeared in 2008 and the second edition of his Brief Introduction to Islamic Philosophy published by Polity in the autumn of 2009 as Islamic Philosophy.