Abbasi-Markaz Student Fellowship

Markaz Center

Stanford Markaz Center

The Abbasi Program, the Markaz Resource Center, and our partners in Global Studies invite applications for the 2023-2024 fellowship.

Program Overview

The purpose of the fellowship is to foster student-led campus conversations on themes related to Islam or Muslim societies and cultures in any historical or regional context. In consultation with faculty, the Abbasi-Markaz fellow will identify themes of current interest to the Stanford community, curate a number of events with academics or speakers whose work engages with scholarship on Islam and Muslims, and organize the events through the Abbasi Program and the Markaz.

The fellowship has three interrelated components:

  1. Programming: Identify relevant themes and speakers, and curate up to 4 events per year. (Events to commence Fall 2023, but planning will begin Summer 2023).
  2. Outreach: Publicize events on social media, listservs, etc., and conduct outreach to maximize audience interest and event visibility. Write brief post-event reports for publication in newsletters.
  3. Mentorship: Commit to mentorship by Abbasi and Markaz-affiliated faculty or graduate students, in the form of one meeting a month with the designated mentor(s).

Applying and Other Details

  • Duration: Fellowship to commence September 2023 and end June 2024.
  • Compensation: The Abbasi-Markaz Fellow will receive compensation of $3000 to be paid via payroll. A separate budget for this series (for speaker honoraria, event logistics, etc.) will be available, to be used in coordination with the Abbasi program staff and faculty. 
  • Eligibility
    • Students must be sophomores, juniors, seniors, or co-terms
    • Students must have either enrolled or continuing status during their fellowship
    • Students from all departments / schools can apply
      • Students in Islamic Studies, Religious Studies, Global Studies, Middle Eastern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (MELLAC), or in other departments working on relevant research, are strongly encouraged to apply.
  • Application Deadline: Tuesday, April 25 at 11:59 PM PST
  • Application Materials: Applicants will submit the following via form: 
  • Cover Letter
  • Current CV or resume
  • Up-to-date academic transcript 
  • One letter of recommendation by a faculty member to be sent directly to csgarcia [at] stanford.edu (subject: Abbasi-Markaz%20Fellowship) (the-markaz[at]stanford[dot]edu) the-markaz [at] stanford.edu (the-markaz[at]stanford[dot]edu)
  • Inquiries: For any questions about the fellowship, contact Cassie Garcia, Associate Director of the Markaz, at csgarcia [at] stanford.edu (subject: Abbasi-Markaz%20Fellowship) (abiya[at]stanford[dot]edu).

Past Events

  • Drawing Parallels: College Students, Silicon Valley and the Islamic Golden Age with Dr. Asad Ahmed, Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at University of California Berkeley (November 3, 2021). Video here.
  • Black Ink: Exploring the Breadth of Black Muslim Art with Dr. Su'ad Abdul Khabeer, author of Muslim Cool: Race Religion and Hip Hop in the United States and Professor at the University of Michigan (February 24, 2022). Video here.
  • Untapped History: Islam in Eastern Europe with Dr. Ermin Sinanović the Executive Director of the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World (CICW) at Shenandoah University (June 22, 2022).

Abbasi-Markaz Fellows

2023-2024 Fellow

Salma Kamni

2022-2023 Fellow

Aya Hilal

2021-2022 Fellow

Yusuf Zahurullah