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Asena Karipek

Profile picture for Asena Karipek

Contact Information

702 S Wright Street
3059 Lincoln Hall
Urbana, IL 61801

Office Hours

By appointment
PhD Student
Graduate Teaching Assistant

Biography

I am a PhD student in sociology interested in the intersections of religion and society. My research interests are mainly in global and transnational sociology. I study Muslims in America as well as Muslims in non-Western contexts. Mainly, I'm interested in comparing manifestations of Islamophobia in the West and non-West. Having explored Islamophobia in the American context as an M.A. student, my focus recently has been non-Western contexts (especially Muslim-majority contexts). I am interested in comparative studies of Islamophobia in the West and non-West.

Research Interests

American Islamophobia, Islamophobia in the non-West, American Muslim communities, racialization of religion, sociology of religion

Education

M.A. Religion, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020
B.A. Islamic Theology, Istanbul University, 2017

Grants

  • Summer 2023: Block Grant/Summer Writing Scholarship. Department of Sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Spring 2023: ASA Scholarship Award. Department of Sociology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • Spring 2020: Conference Travel Award. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate College
  • Spring 2019: Conference Travel Award. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Graduate College
  • Spring 2019: Conference Travel Grant. Department of Religion, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Awards and Honors

  • Teacher Ranked as Excellent by Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2017
  • Teacher Ranked as Excellent by Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018
  • Teacher Ranked as Excellent by Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2019
  • Teacher Ranked as Excellent by Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020
  • Teacher Ranked as Excellent by Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2021
  • Teacher Ranked as Excellent by Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2022

Courses Taught

  • Fall 2023: Social Research Methods (TA/Discussion Section Leader)
  • Fall 2023: Religion & Society in a Global Age (Graduate Instructor)
  • Spring 2023: Criminal Justice System (TA)
  • Fall 2021-fall 2022: Introduction to Sociology (TA/Discussion Section Leader)
  • Spring 2021: Sociology of Political Polarization: Bigots and Snowflakes (TA)
  • Winter 2021: Introduction to Sociology (TA)
  • Fall 2020: Race, Religion, and Resistance (Guest Lecturer)
  • Fall 2019: Elementary Standard Arabic I (Graduate Instructor)
  • 2017-2020: World Religions (TA/Discussion Section Leader)

Highlighted Publications

Karipek, Asena. 2020. "Portrayals of Jihad: A Cause of Islamophobia." Islamophobia Studies Journal 5(2): 210-225.