Dr. Nazry Bahrawi: What is Religious Studies at UW?

Danny Hoffman, director of the Jackson School of International Studies and interim director of University of Washington's Religious Studies Program hosts a conversation on researching and teaching Southeast Asian literary Islam today with UW faculty Nazry Bahrawi, Assistant Professor, Department of Asian Languages and Literature, and Celia Lowe, Professor of Anthropology and International Studies. Dr. Bahrawi was trained in comparative literature and specializes in in the decolonial study of genre fiction and literary Islam from Southeast Asia and its diasporas. Dr. Lowe is the outgoing Director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies and its Diasporas and currently serves as Associate Director of the Jackson School of International Studies. Her work concerns science and technology studies in Indonesia. Recorded on May 26, 2026. Our UW Religious Studies Series introductory and closing music are generously provided by Dr. John-Carlos Perea, chair of the UW Department of Ethnomusicology, from the title track of his 2014 CD Creation Story. For more, see johncarlosperea.bandcamp.com/album/creation-story.