Mustafa Tuna (Ph.D. 2009, Princeton University) is Associate Professor at the Departments of Slavic and Eurasian Studies & History at Duke University and is affiliated with the Duke Islamic Studies Center. His research focuses on Islam and modernity, which he has studied primarily in the historical contexts of Central Eurasia, especially the Russian empire's Volga-Ural region, Central Asia, and modern Turkey. His earlier research examines the often-intertwined roles of Islam, social networks, state or elite interventions, infrastructural changes, and the globalization of European modernity in transforming Muslim communities. His first book, titled Imperial Russia's Muslims: Islam, Empire, and European Modernity, 1788-1917, is published by Cambridge University Press in the "Critical Perspectives on Empire Series." His current project explores encounters between the Sunni Islamic and European secular intellectual traditions with a focus on the ontological, epistemological, and spiritual implications of this encounter for Muslims since the early-twentieth century. His nearly complete second book project, titled Knowing God in the Secular Age: Existence, Knowledge, and Striving for Excellence in the Works of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi (1878-1960), studies these implications in the case of the endeavors of Said Nursi (1878-1960), a Kurdish scholar of Islam from Turkey, to negotiate the changing modern world's challenges for Islam and Muslims. Additionally, he translated one of Nursi's major works, Mathnawi al-Arabi al-Nuri (Luminous Couplets) from Arabic into English and is now preparing this translation for publication as a critical edition. He also investigates the transmission and evolution of Islamic knowledge and practices comparatively in the Turkish and Soviet contexts in preparation for a third monograph. Dr. Tuna is married and has two sons.
Office Location: | 316 Languages Bldg, Durham, NC 27708 |
Office Phone: | +1 919 660 3154 |
Email Address: | |
Web Page: | http://people.duke.edu/~mt125/ |
Teaching (Spring 2024):
Ph.D. | Princeton University | 2008 |
PhD | Princeton University | 2009 |
M.A. | Princeton University | 2004 |
M.A. | Indiana University at Indianapolis | 2001 |
B.A. (International Relations) Valedictorian | Bilkent University, Turkey | 1998 |
Current projects: Imperial Russia’s Muslims: Islam, Empire, and European Modernity in the Volga-Ural Heartland, 1788-1917., “Kazan Tatar Teachers’ School: The Successful Failure of Russification in Late Imperial Russia.” Under review., “Empire Gone Astray: the Story of Nikolai Ivanovich Il’minskii and His Followers.”, “Another Turkish Modernization: Response of the Grassroots.”
Mustafa Tuna's research focuses on social and cultural change among the Muslim communities of Central Eurasia, especially Russia's Volga-Ural region and modern Turkey, since the early-nineteenth century. He is particularly interested in identifying the often intertwined roles of Islam, social networks, state or elite interventions, infrastructural changes, and the globalization of European modernity in transforming Muslim communities. His first book, titled Imperial Russia's Muslims: Islam, Empire, and European Modernity, 1788-1917, is under contract with Cambridge University Press to be published in the "Critical Perspectives on Empire Series." And his second book project investigates the transmission and evolution of Islamic knowledge and practices comparatively in the Ottoman/Turkish and Tsarist/Soviet cases.