Erin Atwell

Erin Atwell
Advisor(s): Tahera Qutbuddin
Arabic Language and Literature

Academic Bio

Erin Atwell is a PhD student in classical Arabic language and literature studying the ways Islamic religious texts produce and emerge from social life. She is particularly interested in the role of classical religious literature in the cultivation an ethical self during contemporary circumstances of conflict and displacement. Erin’s research engages popular hadith literature and the Qur’anic exegetical tradition; anthropology of religion; and reception and social history. She earned a B.A. in International Studies from Loyola University Chicago, an M.A. In International Political Economy and Development from Fordham University, and an M.A. in Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School. Erin’s background in peacebuilding and emergency response work in Egypt, Iraq, and with Syrians in southern Turkey deeply inflects her approach to religion and social life.