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Degrees

  • B.A., William Paterson University, 2000
  • M.A., University of Michigan, 2004
  • Ph.D., University of Michigan, 2010
Areas of Interest

Pre-Islamic Arabia and early Islam; manuscript studies; heritage conservation; history of craftwork; media theory

Sarah Mirza is a historian of pre-Islamic Arabia and early Islam. Her current book project, Rock, Leather, Wood, Skin, is a media history of shoes.

Courses Taught

FYS Humanimal: Animal Ethics in the Anthropocene
RELS 110 Religion, Violence, and the Nation-State
RELS 222 Islam
RELS 267 Ancient Arabian Religions
RELS 267 Materiality and the Spirit: paper, pigment, ritual
RELS 267 Iranian History and Cinema
RELS 267 Technologies of the Self
RELS 269 Pop Culture in Medieval Islam
RELS 269 Decolonizing Fashion: personhood, sustainability, and racial capitalism
RELS 399 Islamic Origins

Publications

Islamic origins, Arabian custom, and the documents of the Prophet, Gorgias Press, Islamic History and Thought Series vol 17 (2022)

“Copies More Authentic than Originals: The Prophet’s Letters and Covenants as Heritage Objects,” In The Fake, the Replica, and the Copy (Islamic Manuscripts and Books Series). Anne Regourd, ed. Leiden: Brill (forthcoming)

“Dhimma Agreements and Sanctuary Systems at Islamic Origins,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 77/2 (April 2018): 99-117

“Shoes, Writing: Unspeaking Writing in the Material Culture of Pre-Islamic Arabia and early Islam,” West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture, 24/2 (Fall-Winter 2017): 159-76