Department of Religious Studies

Boxer, celebrity, political activist, cultural icon, and more, Muhammad Ali (1942-2016) is also an important religious figure. Converting to Islam in 1964, Ali’s story shapes the politics of religion in 20^th century America and throughout the world. Working through the details of his life, we’ll explore questions of race, poetics, religious freedom, gender and sexuality, disability, irony, and more—all with an eye both to Ali’s status as an American Muslim of global importance and the importance of religion in the postwar US. How can a man named “Muhammad” become “the Greatest” American in an age of rampant US Islamophobia?

Credits: CASE A&H

• A&H
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