Ahmet Yukleyen
Croft Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
P.O. Box 1848
University, MS  38677-1848

Phone: 662-915-5733
Office: Leavell 107
E-mail:

click here

Biography
I received my BA in international relations at Bilkent University, Ankara and completed my MA degree at the Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver, where I focused on socio-political development, civil society, and Islamic movements in the Middle East. I received my Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Boston University in the spring of 2006. My dissertation research focused on Turkish Islamic communities in Germany and the Netherlands. I taught a course on “Islam in the West” at Tufts University in spring 2006.

Research:
My research focuses on how Muslim immigrants interpret and practice their religion in Western Europe. I completed a year long fieldwork among the various Islamic groups in the Netherlands and Germany in 2003-4. Islamic movements active among Muslims in Europe have diverse interpretations of Islam. I examine the various factors (i.e. religious authority, class, ethnicity, state policies etc.) on how Muslims make sense of their religious tradition in Europe.

I co-authored a book published in May 2006, in Turkish titled “Avrupa’da Islam, Laiklik ve Demokrasi,” which analyzes how the state and Muslims approach Islam, secularism, and democracy in France, Germany, and the Netherlands. My research interests include anthropology of religion, ethnicity, Muslims in Europe, Islamic movements, and multiculturalism. I teach two courses for Fall 2006 Semester: “Multicultural Europe: Ethnicity, Religion, and Identity Politics” and “Cultural Anthropology.”

My current project is to compare Muslims in several other countries of Western Europe (i.e. Britain, France, and Belgium) and turn my research findings into further publications.

Publications:
Secular Democracy and Islam: Muslims in France, Germany, and the Netherlands, co-author, published by Turkish Economic and Social Research Foundation (TESEV), Istanbul, February, 2006.

Entries on “Balkan Muslims”, “Tablighi Movement”, “Secularism,” and “Da’wa”, Encyclopedia of Islam in America, editor Jocelyne Cesari, forthcoming.

 “Islamic Diversity and Turkish Muslims in Europe” short article, http://science.orf.at (Translated into German) posted on November 8, 2005.

Conference Paper “Role of Islam in European Union-Turkey Relations” presented at 10th Annual Graduate Student Conference “‘Ripple Effects’ of the European Project”, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, February 10-12, 2006. Received Best Conference Paper Award.

Conference Paper “”Localizing Islam in Western Europe” presented at First Islam in the West Conference, Harvard University, December 2, 2005.

Conference Paper “Islamic Organizations and Muslim Integration in the Netherlands”, The International Conference on Islam: Dialogue and Islam, University of Wisconsin, Madison, April 29-30, 2005.

Conference Paper “Comparing State Policies and Muslims in Germany and the Netherlands”, Muslims in Europe Conference, Boston University, April 5, 2005.

Workshop Paper “European Forms of Islam in the Making: Turkish Islamic Organizations in the Netherlands” presented at Graduate Student Workshop “Incorporating Minorities in Europe: 19th Century to the Present”, Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studiesat Harvard University, April 16-17, 2004.