Department of Religious Studies
Faculty
Zilka Spahić-Šiljak
Visiting Lecturer
PhD, University of Novi Sad (Serbia), 2007
2617A Cathedral of Learning
412.624.5986
e-mail
Zilka Spahić-Šiljak, who also holds a law degree from the University of Sarajevo, is a human rights and Islamic feminist scholar, researcher, and activist with more than ten years experience working on issues of culture, religion, women's rights, and feminism in both the governmental and non-governmental sectors. She is currently affiliated with the Center for Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Studies at the University of Sarajevo and is project coordinator for Researches in Gender and Education at the Transcultural and Psychosocial Foundation, where her team has published Gender Equality and Judicial Practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2007), Women, Religion, and Politics: The Impact of Religious Interpretations of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on the Status of Women in Public Life and Politics (2007), and An In-depth Study on Domestic Violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2006). She joins the department for spring term 2009. Zilka Spahić-Šiljak has previously taught at the Center for Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Studies of the University of Sarajevo, which partners with Arizona State University and the University of Oslo and collaborates with Bielefeld University (Germany), Kent University (UK), and Vienna University (Austria).
Fields
Islam, religion and human rights, Islamic feminism, religion and politics
Teaching
Women in Religion—Islam, Marriage and Sexual Ethics in Islam
Selected Publications
Culture of Religion, Goethe Institute, 2008
Honors and Awards
Visiting Scholar, Department of Religious Studies, Arizona State University, 2006
Interfaith Dialogue and Human Rights, Oslo University, 2004