American Examples: “An ideal environment for workshopping a research paper.”

American Examples Logo

Samah Choudhury is a PhD candidate at UNC Chapel Hill. Her dissertation focuses on humor and Islam in America, looking specifically how American Muslim comedians utilize humor as a mode of self-constructing and then articulating “Islam” for an American public. Her larger research interests pertain to critical race theory, secularism and the state, and gender/queer theory. She holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan in Political Science and an A.M. from Harvard University in Middle Eastern Studies.

We asked her to explain what she gained from her participation in the first American Examples workshop last year.

Picture of Samah Choudhury

American Examples was an ideal environment for workshopping a research paper. Early circulation of drafts ensured everyone was acquainted with each other’s work, and the full hour dedicated to each paper meant that the ensuing commentary was far from cursory. Discussions cut to the heart of what this program intended: rather than focusing on what was uniquely “American” about American religion, we were asking how our work could better speak to cross-cultural and comparative social formations in and outside of an American context. I feel fortunate that opportunities like this exist in order to bring together those that share an investment in scholarship that is both public-facing and capacious in its application to the study of religion at large.

American Examples is currently accepting applications for 2020.

APPLY HERE