Mecca in Morocco May 8th | Book Launch 'INDIA' with Audrey Truschke June 1st
Take a Summer Elective at AIC
AIC BULLETIN
ACADEMIC LECTURE FORUM
Articulations of Muslim Pilgrimage in Moroccan Everyday Life
Date: Thursday, May 8, 2025
Time: 6:30 PM Light Reception | 7:00 PM Talk
Location: AIC Library, 640 W Irving Park Rd 60613
Dr. Al-Ajarma explores how pilgrimage to Mecca is imagined, experienced, and embedded in the social and religious lives of Moroccan Muslims.
Speaker: Dr. Kholoud Al-Ajarma
Kholoud al-Ajarma is Alwaleed Lecturer in the Globalised Muslim World and Deputy Director of the Alwaleed Centre, University of Edinburgh.
Kholoud holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Comparative Study of Religion from the University of Groningen (Netherlands). Her PhD thesis focused on the socio-cultural embeddedness of Muslim pilgrimage (Hajj) in Moroccan everyday life. During her Ph.D. studies, she worked as a lecturer at the University of Groningen and delivered several courses including ‘Anthropology of Muslim Societies’, ‘Islam: History, Sources, and Practices’, and ‘Minorities in Contemporary Europe’. Her current research focuses on water resource management and contemporary environmental concerns in the Muslim World.
Kholoud received her MA in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from Coventry University (UK) and her Mphil in Anthropology and Development from the University of Bergen (Norway). In addition to her academic experience in anthropology and religion, Kholoud has worked in the fields of refugee studies, gender, youth development, migration, human rights, and environmental justice in several countries of the Mediterranean region including Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, and Morocco. She was a Chevening visiting fellow at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) and peace fellow of the MENA cohort fellowship programme of the United Nations Allience of Civilizations (UNAOC).
BOOK LAUNCH
Exploring the Stories of India
With Audrey Truschke
Date: Sunday, June 1, 2025
Time: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM CT
Book Signing from 7:00 – 7:30 PM
Copies of the book will be available for purchase
Location: Roosevelt University
Schaumburg Campus
Atrium/Licht Student Center
1400 Roosevelt Blvd.
Schaumburg, IL 60173
Join us for an exciting book launch celebrating India by Audrey Truschke, a magisterial history spanning five millennia of the Indian subcontinent—from the Indus Valley Civilization to the complexities of the twenty-first century. This richly textured narrative explores the region’s political, social, religious, and cultural evolution, spotlighting its astonishing diversity and the voices of women, religious minorities, and marginalized groups. The evening will feature a wide-ranging, historically informed theological conversation on contemporary Hindu-Muslim relations, with Truschke joined by two leading scholars, delving into how India’s contested past continues to shape its present and future.
Speakers:
Audrey Truschke, Anantanand Rambachan, R. David Coolidge
Moderator:
Mahan Mirza
Sponsors:
Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion at University of Notre Dame, American Islamic College & Roosevelt University
Get ready for an enriching summer at AIC! Whether you’re looking to audit or earn credit, we’re offering exciting courses for non-degree students, as well as AIC undergraduate and graduate students who can take these classes as electives. Dive into a variety of subjects, engage in thought-provoking discussions, and explore the intersection of history, religion, and pop-culture. Classes are available online. Email [email protected] with any questions.
AIC 2025
assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu
On behalf of American Islamic College, it is with great joy and gratitude to God that we extend this invitation for you to join us for our first graduation ceremony since the onset of the pandemic. This occasion marks the culmination of years of hard work, dedication, and the relentless pursuit of knowledge -- for the love of God and the service of the creation.
We would be honored to have you join us for this celebration of student achievement and to join us in prayer for the continued success of our graduates, both in this life and the next!
Date and Time: Friday May 9th @ 2:30pm in the AIC Library
Keynote Speaker: Alia J. Bilal
Chief Executive Director, IMAN
Commencement Speaker: Alia J. Bilal serves as Chief Executive Director at the Inner-City Muslim Action Network (IMAN), a nonprofit community organization based in Chicago that fosters health, wellness, and healing in the inner-city by organizing for social change, cultivating the arts, and operating a holistic health center. Alia co-leads and oversees the administration, strategic development, communications, and program implementation of the organization.
In her 15 years at IMAN, Alia has helped the organization grow from a small nonprofit with an operational budget under $1 million to an organization with over 100 full-time staff members, a federally qualified health center, multiple campuses in Chicago and Atlanta, and an operational budget of over $20 million.
OUR VISION
Welcoming students of all faiths and backgrounds, American Islamic College (AIC) is a Chicago-based institution of higher learning grounded in Islamic values and steeped in Islam’s rich and diverse intellectual and cultural traditions. AIC promotes appreciation for the scope and richness of Islamic history and civilization both in and beyond the classroom by means of significant research, impactful teaching, and informative public events highlighting Islam’s intellectual, artistic, and cultural expressions. Through rigorous scholarship and a commitment to social justice, the collective good, civic involvement, interfaith understanding, and intercultural engagement, AIC prepares students to become critical thinkers, visionary leaders,
and responsible global citizens.
Thank you for your support & contributions!
American Islamic College is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit institute of higher education. Contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.
AMERICAN ISLAMIC COLLEGE
American Islamic College | 640 W. Irving Park Rd | Chicago, IL 60613 US