Prof. Samah Choudhury (Religious Studies) is the 2021 recipient of the first place "Young Scholars Award" from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU). This annual award aims to recognize “an emerging leader whose research focuses on American Muslims.”
The IPSU's announcement of the award notes that Prof. Choudhury’s research uses multidisciplinary research tools to analyze the stand-up comedy routines of such prominent Muslim American comedians as Aziz Ansari, Kumail Nanjiani, and Hasan Minhaj. From the award announcement: “Samah argues that these men step into their Muslim identities through the language and (hostile implications) of racialization… Islam as a racial category finds social legibility. Islam as a religious category, however, is limited in its recourse.”
Founded in 2002, the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that aims to build understanding of American Muslims’ experiences by providing “objective research and education about American Muslims to support well-informed dialogue and decision-making.”
