Professional Affiliation

Assistant Professor, Department of History, Stanford University.

Wilson Center Project

"A Faith for the Tsar: Islam, Community, and the State in Imperial Russia"

Project Summary

Exploration of the history of Islam in Russia and Central Asia from the late 18th through the early 20th centuries. Integration of the fields of Russian history and Islamic studies by showing how Muslims, the largest non-Orthodox community in the Russian empire, adapted to the tsarist environment. By tracing interactions between officials and Muslims, my project show how a non-liberal form of toleration integrated Muslim communities into the institutional and legal framework of the empire. It explores how notions of community and religious orthodoxy were reshaped by the imperial experience and how this religious change both enabled--and placed constraints on--the formation of state institutions and their ties to local communities in modern Russia.