Simon Wood

Current Position:

• University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Associate Professor, 2010 -

Previous Positions:

• University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Assistant Professor, 2004 - 2010
• Lehigh University, Adjunct Assistant Faculty, 2000 - 2003
• Franklin and Marshall College, Adjunct Assistant Faculty, 2002

Education:

• Ph.D--Temple University, Religion (with Distinction), 2004
• BA--University of Otago, New Zealand, (1st Class Hons), History & Religious Studies, 1992

Expertise and Research Interest:

• History of Islam
• Christian-Muslim Relations
• Islam in the Modern World
• Comparative Fundamentalism

Languages:

• Arabic
• French (reading)
• German (reading)

Courses:

• Introduction to Islam
• Introduction to World Religions
• Judaism, Christianity and Islam
• Islam in the Modern World
• Fundamentalism, Religion, and Politics
• The Qur'an
• Arabic (first and second year)

Memberships:

• American Academy of Religion
• Society of Biblical Literature
• Midwestern Political Science Association

External Grant:

• Partnered as an investigator on the Great Plains National Security Education Consortium (GP NSEC) 2009
  This is a $3 million grant sponsored by the Office of the Director of Naltional Intelligence. It will fund academic, research, cultural immersion and outreach activities focused on national-security related topics for Nebraska students.

Research Grants

• University of Nebraska - Lincoln Grant in Aid, 2010
• University of Nebraska - Lincoln Grant in Aid, 2007
• University of Nebraska - Layman Award, 2005

Honors and Awards:

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Arts and Sciences "Academic Star," 2010
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award, 2009
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Teaching Council and Parents Association Recognition Award, 2008

Teaching Development:

• University of Nebraska-Lincoln Peer Review of Teaching Project, 2007-08
• Target Course: RELG 398 the Qur'an, Portfolio available online: http://www.courseportfolio.org/

Refereed Publications - Books:

• Christian Criticisms, Islamic Proofs: Rashid Rida's Modernist Defence of Islam (Oxford: Oneworld, 2008). Reviewed in the Journal of Islamic Studies 20 (2009): 103-105.
• Under contract: Fundamentalism: Perspectives on a Contested History(University of South Carolina Press).
  Lead editor: Simon A. Wood; Coeditor: David Harrington Watt.
  In addition to editing this book, I contribute an essay on global fundamentalism.

Refereed Publications - Articles:

• "Reseaching "The Scripture of the Other": Niqula Ghabriyal's Researches of the Mujtahids and Rashid Rida's Rejoinder." Comparative Islamic Studies: 6 (2010): 181-216.
• "Rethinking Fundamentalism: Ruhollah Khomeini, Mawlana Mawdudi, and the Fundamentalist Model", Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory 11.2 (Spring 2011): 171-198.

Current Research Projects:

• My current projects fall into three main areas: Sunni-Shi'i relations; fundamentalism; and modern Islamic thought.

Conference Papers:

• "The Qur'an in the Classroom: Pedagogical Challenges and Opportunties", 2009 Society of Biblical Literature National Meeting, New Orleans, 11/23/09
• "Egypt 1898-1914: Christian Tafsiir, Muslim Biblical Criticism"
  2007 American Academy of Religion Society of biblical Literature Nat. Meeting, San Diego, 11/18/07
• "Rethinking the "Fundamentals" of Fundamentalism: Dualism, Literalsim, Golden Age-ism"
  2006 American Academy of Religion National Meeting, Washington DC, 11/19/2006
• "Fundamentalism Revised: Mawdudi, Khomeini, and the Fundamentalist Paradigm"
  2006 Midwest American Political Science Association National Meeting, Chicago, 04/20/2006
• "Islamic Da'wah and "the Religion of the Other": Rashid Rida's Revision of Islamic Exclusivism"
  2004 American Academy of Religion National Meeting, San Antonio, TX, 11/23/2004.
• "Teaching Islamic Fundamentalism After 9/11"
  2003 American Academy of Religion Mid-Atlantic Meeting, New Brunswick, NJ, 03/14/2003

Selected Invited Lectures

• "Islam and Ecology: A Reassessment Ten Years after the Earth Charter" Panel Presider, American Academy of Religion National Meeting, Atlanta, 11/2010.
• "The Qur'an: Jihad, Peace and War", University of Nebraska-Omaha, 04/16/10
• "The Qur'an in the Classroom: Pedagogical Challenges and Opportunities", Panelist, Society of Biblical Literature National Meeting, New Orleans, 11/23/09
• "Christian-Muslim Debate and Dialogue in Post-industrial Society", Panel Moderator, Society of Biblical Literature National Meeting, New Orleans, 11/22/09
• "Islam, Human Rights, and the State", Panel Moderator & Discussant, Midwestern Political Science Association National Meeting, Chicago, 04/04/09
• "Islam and Modernity", A lecture delivered at the National Meeting of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists of North America (AMSS), University of Nebraska - Omaha, 04/19/08.
• "Colonialism and Fundamentalism", two lectures delivered at the 2006 Midland Lutheran College Forum on the Arts & Humanities, Fremont, NE, 07/04/06-08/04/06
• Presenter and Panelist on "Islam in the Middle East", Lincoln Unitarian Church, Lincoln, NE, 01/20/05 and 01/27/05
• Theology for lunch: three lectures on Islam University of Nebraska-Lincoln Union, Fall 2004
• "Christian Criticisms, Islamic Proofs: Rashid Rida's Rationalist Defense of Islam", Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA, 02/26/04
• "Jihad in Islam", Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA, 05/07/02, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA, 05/07/02, (respondent to keynote address by R. Scott Appleby)
• "Islamic Modernities", Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, 04/26/02
• "Rethinking the "fundamentals" of Islamic Fundamentalism", St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, PA, 09/23/01

Committees:

• Coordinator and Supervisor: Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program (FLTA)
• Graduate Studies Subcommittee, 2010 -
• Department course scheduler (co-scheduler: Anne Duncan), Fall 2008 -
• Undergraduate Advisor, Fall 2008
• Search Committee 2008-09, hire in Asian Religions
• University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Academic Senate, 2004-2007
• Classics & Religious Studies Assessment Committee, 2006-2007