This talk will explore key transformations in the lives of the minority Shia community of Afghanistan from the 1970s to the present. Focusing on Shi'i religious institutions and scholars in Afghanistan and the global Afghan diaspora, it will examine how the Shia have continually re-imagined new revolutionary projects, the structures of religious authority, and the challenges of adapting novel forms of piety to global horizons.
Robert D. Crews is an Associate Professor of History at Stanford University, where his research and teaching interests focus on Afghanistan, Central and South Asia, Russia, Islam, and Global History. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he received an MA from Columbia University and a PhD degree in History from Princeton University. His books include Afghan Modern: The History of a Global Nation (2015) and For Prophet and Tsar: Islam and Empire in Russia and Central Asia (2006), both published by Harvard University Press. His work has recently appeared in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and The New York Times.
This event is presented in collaboration with the Center for Near Eastern Studies.