The Islamic World Studies Program takes as its focus countries and regions throughout the world in which Muslims constitute either the majority of the population or form a significant minority group.  The program provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of research on Islam and Muslim peoples undertaken by members of the USC faculty, graduate students, and visitors to the University.  It is also committed to the enhancement of undergraduate and graduate instruction relevant to the global Muslim community.   

Included among the faculty members affiliated with the program are specialists in geographical areas ranging from North Africa to Southeast Asia and others whose expertise lies in such diverse fields as Islamic theology, Francophone literature in Muslim African countries, and political geography and refugee studies.  Chronologically, these interests span the period from the rise of Islam in the 7^th century CE to the present day. 

The program will, in the course of the 2006–2007 academic year, propose a set of courses suitable for use as a cognate.  As additional scholars with specializations that fall under the Islamic Studies umbrella join the University faculty, it is our intention to expand this base of courses into a minor in Islamic Studies.  The cognate and the minor will serve students in a variety of fields (including, among others, political science, anthropology, geography, history, religious studies, language and literature, and business) who wish to focus on some portion of the Muslim world – sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia, or Southeast Asia – or on some thematic interest running through the Muslim world.  In addition to their disciplinary training, the cognate or minor will enable such students to develop a richly textured and multidisciplinary perspective on the particular aspect of the Muslim world of primary interest to them.

In conjunction with the Walker Institute of International and Area Studies, the program sponsors a series of lectures and colloquia that each year brings to campus scholars in a variety of disciplines related to Islam and Muslim peoples, as well as other cultural events that are open to the University community and the public alike. 

Many of the faculty affiliated with the Islamic World Studies Program welcome opportunities to share their expertise on Islam and the Muslim world with civic organizations and church or school groups interested in learning more about these topics.