The Project on Shi’ism and Global Affairs at the Harvard Divinity School is pleased to announce a new workshop on Imam al-Mahdi and the centrality of the Imam in Shi’a thought. Our Knowing the Imam workshop offers comprehensive analyses on the sophisticated and multidimensional worldview of Shi’i thought. Building on studies of Imamology, these lectures focus on the role of the Imam in Shi’ism and bringing the concept into conversation with modern philosophical debates and issues. These talks examine the significance of the Imam as a basis for Shi’i indigenous thought through a decolonial comparative framework.

Drawing on the foundational thinking presented in other aspects of this workshop, how can academic studies of religion lend themselves beyond historical discussions into broader and more contemporary discussions? How might scholars approach the holistic and sophisticated thought present in Shi’i Islamic philosophy, and what answers and approaches does it provide for modern challenges? How can this be put into a larger conversation with other worldviews and perspectives? All of these topics and more are considered and explored in topics such as: