Professor Muhammad U. Faruque (College of Arts & Sciences, Romance and Arabic Languages and Literatures) weaves together insights from Sufi contemplative practices, offering a new paradigm to integrate Sufi studies with the environmental humanities.  

In his award-winning proposal, Professor Faruque stated, “It is thus evident that we need an alternative mode of engagement with the world of nature; hence my aim in the present study is to develop a new theory of the human-nature relationship based on a cross-cultural, multidisciplinary approach that draws on contemporary perspectives in the environmental humanities and environmental ethics on one hand, and Sufism and Islamic contemplative studies on the other”.  

The multidisciplinary approach adopted by Professor Faruque’s present study makes a novel contribution in the growing field of the environmental humanities. In his own words, “It opens up the way for engaging premodern and modern Sufi-Islamic sources from a contemporary perspective by going beyond the pure exegesis of historical materials”. 

Stay tuned to future issues of Findings and the Office of Research web page for the next Society & Culture Research Advancement Program funding opportunity.