World Religions and Cultures

Department of World Religions and Cultures
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5320 USA
(269) 387-4393

Alisa Perkins

Alisa Perkins
Associate Professor of World Religions and Cultures
Office: (269) 387-4396
Location:
2005 Moore Hall, Mail Stop 5320
Mailing address:
Department of World Religions and Cultures
Western Michigan University
1903 W Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5320 USA
Alisa Perkins
Office hours:

On sabbatical.

Education:
  • Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 2012
Teaching Interests:
  • Anthropology of religion
  • Islam and secularism
  • Immigration and Globalization
  • Religion and race
Research Interests:
  • Islam in America
Bio:

Dr. Alisa Perkins is an associate professor in the Department of World Religions and Cultures at Western Michigan University.

Perkins' current research project is an ethnographic study of Muslim American civic engagement in the Detroit-metro area. Her dissertation research was carried out in Hamtramck, Michigan, with the support of grants from the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, the National Science Foundation and the Philanthropic Educational Organization.

Before beginning her work on Islam in America, Perkins' research interests centered on women and gender in Muslim-majority societies, culminating in her master's level work on women’s education and family law in Morocco (this project was supported by a Fulbright grant).

Perkins recently received a 2019 College of Arts and Sciences Diversity and Inclusion Award and a Women's Caucus Gender Scholar Award.