Theology Department Faculty
Natana J. Delong-Bas
Professor of the Practice
Natana J. Delong-Bas
Ph.D.
Contact
Stokes Hall 447N
Telephone: 617-552-3322
Email: delongba@bc.edu
Education
- A.B., Middlebury College
- M.A.A.S., Georgetown University
- Ph.D., Georgetown University
Courses
- Religious Quest I and II: Christianity and Islam
- Building and Sustaining a Habitable Planet
- Women and Gender in Islam
- Islam and History in the Middle East
- Contemporary Islamic Thought and Practice
- Islam and Christianity in Dialogue
- Geographies of Imperialism
Office Hours
MW 10:30-11:45 and by appointment
Biography
Dr. Natana J. DeLong-Bas is the author of Shariah: What Everyone Needs to Know (with John Esposito, 2018), Islam: A Living Faith (2018), and Wahhabi Islam: From Revival and Reform to Global Jihad (rev. ed. 2008, translated into Arabic, Russian, and French and named 1 of the top 5 books for understanding Islam by the Wall Street Journal), among other books. She is editor of Islam, Revival & Reform: Redefining Tradition for the Twenty-First Century (2022) and The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Reform (forthcoming 2023), and Editor-in-Chief of Oxford Bibliographies Online – Islamic Studies. Past President of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS), she is an expert on Islam and Christianity, comparative scripture (Bible and Qur’an), women and gender, Islamic law, the environment, extremism, and the Arabian Gulf countries.
Selected Presentations
“Bridging the Orient and the West: Tracing Translations of the Qur’an into English through Arabia and the British Empire in India in the First Decades of the 20th Century,” international workshop on “Da’wa and Qur’an translation in the first decades of the 20th century,” Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany, funded by the European Research Council, June 21-22, 2022.
“From Subjects and Objects to Citizens and Society Influencers: Saudi Arabian Women in Religion, History and Contemporary Society,” presented to School of Foreign Service for Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, Feb. 1, 2022.
"Intertextual Scriptural Reading as Inspiration for Interfaith Cooperation in Water Conservation and Management," conference on “Islam, Environmental Science and Conservation,” Michigan State University, October 15-16, 2020.
"From ‘Sources and Origins’ to ‘Conversation Partners’: Reframing the Historical Construction of the Qur’an," Round-Table Conference on “The Qur’an in Its Milieu of Origin: Possibilities of the Historical Reconstruction of the Qur’anic Revelation,” Center for Islamic Theology and the Cluster of Excellence, University of Münster, Germany, November 8-10, 2019.
Social Media Presence
“Sharia: What Does Everyone Need to Know,” conference on “The Islamic World Today: Issues and Perspectives,” Brigham Young University, October 18-29, 2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z8sN-Ygt6A
“Islam for Catholics 101,” Woods School of Theology and Ministry, Boston College, March 5, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh_QiApASRQ.
“Muslim Women and Islamic Law: Myths and Realities,” Woods School of Theology and Ministry, Boston College, October 15, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2ra9S8dZOg.
Select Recent Articles
“The Qur’an in Islamic Ritual and Practice,” in The Routledge Handbook of Islamic Ritual and Practice, ed. Oliver Leaman. New York: Routledge, June 2022, 13-37.
“Wahhabism and Salafism in Global Perspective,” in Wahhabism in the World: Understanding Saudi Arabia’s Global Influence on Religion, ed. Peter Mandaville. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022, 35-52.
“The Role of Women in Solidifying 18th Century Revival and Reform Initiatives into Ongoing Mass Movements,” in Islam, Revival and Reform: Redefining Tradition for the Twenty-First Century, ed, Natana J. DeLong-Bas. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2022, 3-29.
“Islamic Law and Gender,” Oxford Bibliographies in Islamic Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. Available at www.oxfordbibliographies.com.
“Islam, Nature and the Environment,” Oxford Bibliographies in Islamic Studies. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. Available at www.oxfordbibliographies.com.
Grants and Awards
Major Grant from the Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation for environmental study in the Galapagos Islands, May 2019-May 2022.
University Council on Teaching Grant for Student Well-Being, Spring 2020.
Major Grant Award from Institute for the Liberal Arts for conference on “Islam in the Post-Obama Era," Boston College, April 2018.