The Center for the Study of Muslim Societies (CSMS) is an umbrella for faculty collaborations in cutting-edge research, integrated programming, innovative teaching and new forms of public outreach across the related fields of research on Islam and Muslim societies at Columbia University.
Founded in 2018, CSMS crosses disciplines, area specializations and schools to create an institutional venue for faculty to collaborate on scholarly projects, build new initiatives and develop pedagogical tools. Leadership in these fields is not new for Columbia, as the university’s inquiry and instructional commitments and related international recognition date to the late nineteenth-century.
At present, the university counts some 30 specialists (in over ten departments) in the core fields of Islamic Studies and over 80 scholars and 14 language lecturers concerned with various aspects of Muslim societies, including those in the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, global diasporas and minority societies in the West.
