Episteme: Orienting Minds is a three-day academic workshop aimed at nurturing critical, reflexive, and grounded engagement with the Islamic intellectual tradition alongside contemporary discourses. Designed to guide young Muslim scholars in their academic journeys, the workshop emphasizes the importance of interrogating knowledge systems through the lenses of power, pedagogy, and epistemic authority. It brings into conversation themes such as the making of modern epistemology, decolonial and subaltern thought, liberation theology, and the objectives of Islamic law (Maqāṣid al-Sharīʿah). Through sessions on academic reading, writing, and research practice, the workshop fosters methodological awareness, ethical scholarship, and interdisciplinary thinking. Participants will explore issues of positionality, intersectionality, and the politics of canon formation, while engaging with questions central to researching Islam and Muslims in contemporary contexts. By bridging classical traditions with critical modern insights, Episteme seeks to cultivate a generation of scholars equipped to contribute meaningfully to knowledge production grounded in both intellectual rigor and Islamic values.

The academic workshop Episteme: Orienting Minds will host a distinguished lineup of scholars, thinkers, and academics contributing to critical and interdisciplinary discourses. Esteemed guests include Prof. Avijit Pathak (Former Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University), Prof. Aditya Nigam (Former Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies), Prof. Sundar Sarukkai (Renowned Thinker), Divya (Indian Institute of Technology), Dr. Irfanullah (IIM), Dr. Thahir Jamal (Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia – UIII), Abdullah Azzam (University of Oxford), Ambreen Agha (O.P. Jindal Global University), Dr. Sheerin Azam (University of Oxford), Ramees E. K. (Independent Researcher), and Dr. Sania Ismailee (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi) Dr. Sadiq P K (Principal, Media One Academy). Please note that some guests are yet to be finalized. Additional guest speakers and contributors may join the workshop, further enriching the intellectual breadth and engagement of the program.

• Doctoral and Master’s students in Social Sciences, Humanities, and related fields
• Early career academics working on Islam and Muslims
• Researchers and aspiring Critical Thinkers

Application Deadline: 12 August 2025
Confirmation of Selection: 15 August 2025
Programme Dates: 5–7 September 2025
Location: New Delhi