Executive Director
Dr. Mahan Mirza is a Teaching Professor in the Keough School of Global Affairs and Executive Director of the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion at the University of Notre Dame. An Islamic studies scholar, Dr. Mirza previously served as lead faculty member for the Madrasa Discourses, a project to advance scientific and theological literacy at the Keough School's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. He also served as Dean of Faculty at Zaytuna College in Berkeley, California, America’s first accredited Muslim liberal arts college. Mirza holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Texas Austin, an MA from Hartford Seminary in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations, and a PhD in Religious Studies from Yale University. He has taught a range of courses in Arabic-Islamic studies, western religions, history of science, and global affairs, along with foundational subjects in the liberal arts including logic, rhetoric, ethics, and politics. His doctoral research was on the intellectual world of al-Biruni, an 11th-century scientist from Central Asia. Dr. Mirza has edited two special issues of The Muslim World and served as assistant editor of The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought. His recent articles include “Deed over idea: Toward a shared Caliphate” in The Routledge Handbook for Religious Literacy, Pluralism, and Global Engagement (2022) and “Between Tyranny and Anarchy: Islam, Covid 19, and Public Policy,” in Religions (2023).