ArunRasiah Faculty Profile

Photo of Arun Rasiah

Arun  Rasiah

Professor of Ethnic Studies

What makes me unique

Rasiah (PhD, Berkeley) is Professor of Ethnic Studies, and has taught in public schools, jails, community colleges and universities in the Bay Area. Previously a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies and University College London, he researches decolonial pedagogy, Islamic education, Muslims in the Americas, the South Asian diaspora and Indian Ocean history.

  • PhD, Education, University of California, BerkeleyMA, Education, University of California, BerkeleyBA, History, Oberlin College

  • Fall Semester 2025

    Course #SecCourse TitleDaysFromToLocationCampus
    ES 39601Muslim American ActivismARRWEB-ASYNCHOnline Campus
    ES 10004Intro to Social JusticeARRWEB-ASYNCHOnline Campus

  • Notes on Classifying the Disciplines in Islam. In Inloes & Godlas (eds.). A Luminous Intellect. Brill, 2025.

    Hamid Algar: A Global Itinerary. In Inloes & Godlas (eds.). A Luminous Intellect. Brill, 2025.

    Pedagogy of Remembrance: Safiya Bukhari's Ethics of Solidarity. Critical Times 7, 3 (2024) 402-422.

    Seminaries of the Orient: Representations of Islamic Learning in Qom. Sociology of Islam 11, 2-3 (2023) 212-230.

    Shifting Cultural Paradigms in Global Education: Toward Decolonizing Knowledge. In Alpaydin & Demirli (eds.). Educational Theory in the 21st Century: Science, Technology, Society, Education. Palgrave Macmillan, 2022.

    An Imagined Diaspora. Journal of Indian Ocean World Studies 4, 2 (2021) 144-164.

    Another Cartography is Possible: Relocating the Middle East and North Africa. Review of Middle East Studies 54, 2 (2021) 309-313.

    Ideas in Motion. In Scharbrodt and Shanneik (eds.). Shia Minorities in the Contemporary World: Migration, Transnationalism and Multilocality. Edinburgh University Press, 2020.

    Making Global Connections: Critical Pedagogy and the Decolonization of History. In Hensold, Kynes, Taleb et al (eds.). Religion in Motion: Rethinking Religion, Knowledge and Discourse in a Globalizing World. Springer, 2020.

    Toward Muslim Pluralism: Dialogue and Discord in Contemporary Sri Lanka. In Bock, Fahy, & Everett (eds.). Emergent Religious Pluralisms. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.

  • On the Shores of Learning. Islam in the Tamil World Workshop, University of Pennyslvania, April 18-19, 2025.

    Attaining Perfection: Ibn Khaldun’s Exhortation to Travel in Pursuit of Knowledge. Ibn Khaldun: Universal Thought and Shared Heritage, Nadwa Seminar, Tunis, May 27, 2024.

    Beyond Borders: Decolonizing Approaches to the Study of Muslims in the Americas. Researching Muslim America: Intersecting Identities, Methodological Advances, and Lingering Challenges. 17th Annual Muslim Studies Program Conference, Muslim Studies Program, Michigan State University, Feb. 8-9, 2024.

    Seeking Knowledge across Borders: Epistemic Shifts in the Life and Legacy of Malcolm X. Caribbean Philosophical Association Conference: Shifting the Geography of Reason XXI. Twenty Years of Shifting the Geography of Reason: Continuing the Struggle, June 23, 2023.

    ‘Wake the People’: Malcolm X as Voice of Decolonization. Decolonial Thinking and Revolutionary Events, Goldsmiths, University of London, March 8-9, 2023.

    Reflections on Teaching Islam in the US: Religious Education and Ethnic Studies. Islam in the RE Classroom Workshop. The Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations (AKU-ISMC), London,  June 25, 2022.

    From Area Studies to Ethnic Studies: Pedagogical Approaches to the Study of Muslims in the Americas. The Madrasa and the Modern Academy: Convergences, Departures and Possibilities for Collaboration. Markfield Institute of Higher Education (MIHE) and the University of Johannesburg (UJ), December 14, 2021.

    Racial Justice, Social Movements and Policy Change: Integrating Ethnic Studies and Education in California. Invited Talk, Gevirtz School of Education, University of California, Santa Barbara, Nov. 30, 2021.

    Self-Reformation and Community Reorientation: Ethical Learning and ‘Alid Piety in Tamil Islam. Sites and Processes of Ethical Learning: Religion and Self-Making in Asia. Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Nov. 1-3, 2021.

    ‘The Internal Revolution’: Transformative Ethics in the Life of Safiya Asya Bukhari. Caribbean Philosophical Association Conference: Shifting the Geography of Reason XIX, Black Lives Matter: Black American Resistance Through Thought, June 18, 2021.

    From Qom to Colombo: New Iterations of Madrasa Life in South Asia. Hawza Studies: Current Research, Future Developments, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, Sept. 17, 2020.

    Shifting Paradigms of Islamic Knowledge: Formations of Muslim Thought in Sri Lanka. Beyond Sectarianism? Towards an Alternative Understanding of Identity Politics and Communal Antagonism, Woolf Institute, University of Cambridge, Oct. 24, 2019.

    Malcolm X: On Education. Visiting Fellows Seminar, Institute of Advanced Studies, University College London, Sept. 24, 2019.

    A Hidden Diaspora: New Formations of Muslim Ethnicity in Sri Lanka. Us and Them: Diasporas for Others in the Indian Ocean. Centre for Interdisciplinary Area Studies, Martin-Luther University, Halle, Germany, Sept. 16, 2019.

    ‘Think for Yourself’: Malcolm X and the Politics of Critical Thinking. Gevirtz Graduate School of Education, Invited Talk, University of California, Santa Barbara, August 29, 2019.

    Malcolm X in Retrospect. Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, June 20, 2019.

    In Pursuit of Knowledge and Freedom: Malcolm X and Transformative Ethics in Muslim Life. Visiting Fellows Seminar, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, May 27, 2019.