Lecture

Fifty years ago British scholarship in Islamic studies moved from Orientalism to 'area studies'. At the beginning of the 21st century a similar change is taking place. Synthesizing the global and the local has the potential to transcend abstract theory and narrow area studies-if the Middle East can be seen in the larger geographical context of the Indian Ocean. Such a configuration, which is still artificially divided by area specialists, would help to restore more comprehensible dimensions o

John O. Voll is Professor of Islamic History and Associate Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding of Georgetown University. His books include The Society of Muslim Brothers (1969), Islam: Continuity and Change in the Modern World (1994), and Islam and Democracy (1996).