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The research of Humayun Ansari, at RHUL since 1990, and Akil Awan, appointed 2006, examines the interplay of political, social and religious relations within Muslim societies and between Muslim minorities and non-Muslim populations. This expert knowledge has underpinned engagement with government and community organisations in the UK and abroad, often through Royal Holloway's Centre for Minority Studies (CeMS). Ansari's research contributed directly to legal changes regarding discrimination on the grounds of religion, while both have advised the British and US governments on issues relating to Muslim community affairs and Islamic activism, contributing to shaping security policy, both in the UK and internationally.
A number of initiatives organised by the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World (Alwaleed) have provided Area Studies colleagues with the opportunity to utilise their research expertise to challenge stereotypes about Islam and Muslims with profound impact in and for Scottish civil society.
Exploring Islam, providing Scottish police with essential understanding of Islam in the local and global context, transformed Police Scotland's diversity training programmes.
Breaking Barriers deepened the knowledge of 22 young Scottish Christians and Muslims, including community leaders, about each other's beliefs and practices, overturned prejudices and equipped all to challenge prevailing discourses about the Other within their communities.
Since the events of 11th September 2001, Muslims have been placed at the centre of national and global debates about modernity, citizenship and multiculturalism; this research has served to promote and inform public debate about the representation of British Muslims in contemporary culture. The impact of this research takes two closely related forms. Firstly, this research has promoted awareness and understanding of the historic contribution of South Asians to British life and culture since 1870. Secondly, this research has served to bring new audiences and readers to the work of contemporary writers of Muslim heritage.
Mondal's research has been of benefit to policy makers and civil servants advising government departments dealing with social integration, education and youth, and counter-terrorism and radicalization including the Home Office, Association of Chief Police Offices, PREVENT and the Department of Children, Schools and Families. The research has provided a more nuanced and detailed qualitative analysis of the attitudes of young British Muslims aged 16-20 towards religious belief, identity, politics, society, culture and inter-generational relationships. It has also been of use to third-sector and inter-faith organizations working with Muslim youth, and Higher Education courses training youth workers specialising in Muslim youth. It has also made a contribution to the wider debate in the media about young Muslims in contemporary Britain.
Almost everything about Islamophobia is contested, from the very phenomenon and name, to its attendant facts and the responses it calls for. This case study focuses on a research-based intervention which has impacted how key stakeholders frame the discussion of Islamophobia at critical junctures of the grassroots-media-policy continuum. Specifically, for those most actively affected by and engaged with the issue, it has opened up more robust critical modes of intervention and argumentation. The research was conceived and informed by a commitment to public engagement envisaged as a two way and participatory process with communities and stakeholders, and has influenced public debate and benefited community relations in the UK, Europe and beyond.
Research undertaken by Dr Rainbow Murray in the School of Politics and International Relations (SPIR) at QMUL has assisted governments and activists from Europe, Israel and China interested in adopting gender quotas in elections to understand their potential advantages, pitfalls and consequences. Users of her research include parliaments, intergovernmental organisations, political parties, public bodies, NGOs and the media.
Dr Chris Allen's research into Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred has had a direct influence on the political thinking and emerging policy developments of central government in the United Kingdom. Having been recognised as a leading expert in his field at the political level, his research has helped to encourage engagement, raise awareness and facilitate public and political debate. Allen's expertise and knowledge has been drawn upon in establishing the All Party Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia, the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group and the recently launched, Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) third party reporting initiative that was recently noted in the Coalition's new integration strategy.
Emma Tarlo's research on modest dress and Islamic fashion plays a substantial role in combatting social prejudice and promoting understanding of religious minority groups in Britain and Europe. Addressing issues of the rights to religious expression and the need for socially inclusive design, it has attracted widespread coverage in British and international media, including religious and ethnic minority and fashion media, stimulating public debate on-line and off. Professor Tarlo has engaged with diverse publics in the context of museums, Islamic societies, inter-faith events, schools conferences, and through interviews on radio and film. Her research has been taken up in new educational curricula and by artists and designers seeking to combat social prejudice through design.
The research, undertaken by Professor Ron Geaves, provides a biography of a Victorian convert to Islam, Abdullah Quilliam, who established the first registered mosque in Liverpool. The study challenges and illuminates cultural values and social assumptions concerning the origins of Islam in Britain and provides an historical narrative that can be seen to enrich and expand the cultural life of British Muslims. It also offers deeper insight into a figure who can act as an iconic exemplar of what it means to be British and Muslim. The reception of the book shows its impact upon the psychological and social well-being of British Muslims, as it provides positive self-images of their presence in Britain. The research has contributed to the quality of evidence, argument and expression in public and British Muslim understandings of integration, identity and belonging.
Innovative research into gendered identities at the University of Hull, under the auspices of the Centre for Gender Studies and the Centre for Research into Embodied Subjectivity, led to the design and delivery of new curricula in higher education internationally including the European Union, the US and in Chile, India and Pakistan. Research on gendered identities provides the philosophical core of the curriculum for GEMMA (Erasmus Mundus Master's Degree in Women's and Gender Studies) delivered by a consortium of 7 universities within the AtGender (previously ATHENA) network. The relevant impact has been primarily on education (at an international level and especially in the area of curriculum development and knowledge transfer) and on public discourse. The beneficiaries are academics and students internationally, as well as pressure groups and artists concerned with gender identity. This impact is ongoing (the 7th edition of GEMMA commenced in 2013).