Welcome to 2025!
AIC BULLETIN
AIC WELCOMES
JONATHAN WHITAKER
TO THE TEAM!
American Islamic College welcomes Jonathan Orrin Whitaker as AIC's new Campus Security and Special Operations Officer. Also known as "Jonathan 2X" and simply "JB" among friends and colleagues, he proudly & humbly brings over 21 years of expertise in security and content creation to American Islamic College. With a background as a post leader of armed security for various clinics within the Cook County Health and Hospital Systems and as a registered FOI Member within the Nation of Islam, Jonathan’s dedication to safety and vigilance informs his role as our new security chief. Jonathan is also a Grammy-nominated producer and multimedia expert (going by the creative alias "Joe Blacula"), boasting collaborations with icons such as Mariah Carey and a history of impactful contributions in music, branding, and digital content creation. Jonathan is committed to leveraging his skills to elevate AIC’s presence through engaging media, security, and community-focused content.
ACADEMIC LECTURE FORUM
Tuesday, January 28th @6pm CST
Date: Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Time: 6:00 PM Light Reception | 6:30 PM Talk CST
Venue: American Islamic College
Registration:
Free, in-person. Registration required.
Speaker: Yousef Casewit
Associate Professor of Qur’anic Studies; University of Chicago, Divinity School
Professor Casewit is a Qur’anic studies scholar. His research interests include intellectual history of North Africa and al-Andalus, Muslim perceptions of the Bible, and medieval commentaries on the ninety nine divine names.
He has several publications, most recently The Mystics of al-Andalus: Ibn Barrajān and Islamic Thought in the Twelfth Century (Cambridge University Press, 2017), a study on Ibn Barrajan’s life and teachings. He is also the author of a critical edition of a Qur’an commentary by Ibn Barrajan (Brill, TSQ Series, 2016).
Prior to joining the Divinity School, Professor Casewit was a Humanities Research Fellow at New York University Abu Dhabi, and an Assistant Professor of Arabic Intellectual Heritage and Culture at the American University of Sharjah. He completed his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in Islamic Studies at Yale University’s Religious Studies Department.
Current projects include a translation and critical edition of a Sufi-Philosophical commentary on the divine names by the Algerian scholar ‘Afif al-Din al-Tilimsani (d. 1291) for the Library of Arabic Literature, NYU Press.
Born in Egypt and raised in Morocco, he is fluent in Arabic, French and Spanish. Yousef has traveled throughout the Islamic world, and has studied with Muslim scholars in Morocco, Syria, and Mauritania.
ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR SPRING SEMESTER 2025
Spring Semester begins January 21st. There is still time to apply! Contact us for more information [email protected]. Classes are available online.
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