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Why study charitable giving? : Challenges and opportunities in the field of Islamic Philanthropic studies.
One of the projects that is occupying most of my waking hours involves studying charity. Yes, you read that right, charity as in giving, philanthropy, Zakat, Tzedakah – call it what you want. In particular, I am focused on studying Islamic philanthropy, globally. The reason for studying charity among Muslims: the staggering potential that it…
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Book review: A Free and Ordered Space – A.Bartlett Giamatti
While it is not fashionable to review old books, there can be exceptions. Or rather, there should be exceptions for classics – they should be read, reviewed and discussed- time and again. Giamatti’s “ A free and Ordered Space” is one such book. This book, first published in 1988 is one man’s vision of higher…
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The university as a politically contested space
Two events in the recent past helped me gain some insights into how politically contested a university campus can be. This political nature of American campuses is not new, but offers opportunities for students to engage, deliberate about issues that they are passionate about and can be seen as a positive factor in one’s education.…
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Why you should get a PhD and the importance of being “productively stupid”
I feel privileged to be in a Ph.D program, with a world-renowned adviser and a fairly new department( which means I have a lot of flexibility to study and explore my area of interest) in a way that would be impossible in a more established set-up. The past six months that I have been in my program have…
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Is this the beginning of the end for the traditional University system ?
I am actually registered in two courses on a website which is part of the “Massive Open Online Courses,” ( MOOC) system so called because they are free and online – and offered by some of the best-known universities in the world . With Stanford University, Duke university and others joining in, a class-room of…
