Dr. Asma Barlas, a distinguished professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Ithaca, embarked on her academic journey when she joined the Politics department in 1991, culminating in her retirement from the same department in 2020. Her contributions to academia and thought span diverse domains beyond her primary discipline of International Studies. Dr. Barlas is renowned for her incisive insights into subjects such as colonial history, religious dynamics, sexual and textual violence, and epistemic paradigms.

She served as the founding director for the Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity and held the Spinoza Chair in Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, during a semester of her illustrious career. Dr. Barlas' journey traces back to her initial foray into Pakistan's Foreign Service in 1976. However, her principled stance against the military dictatorship of General Zia ul Haq led to her dismissal. Subsequently, she became the assistant editor of The Muslim, an opposition newspaper, until her departure for graduate studies in the United States. Her advocacy for critical thinking even in the face of adversity led to her being granted political asylum.

Dr. Barlas' scholarship extends beyond conventional boundaries. Her groundbreaking work examines the intersection of militarism and colonial legacy in Pakistan's political landscape. One of her seminal works challenges patriarchal interpretations of Islamic scripture that perpetuate the oppression of women, presenting a liberating hermeneutic framework. This framework draws upon the Qur'an's transcendence of sex and gender, as well as its intrinsic indifference to these constructs. Her post-9/11 writings confront the West's prolonged history of propagating negative portrayals of Islam and Muslims, while her more recent endeavors engage with secular and feminist discourses that overlook the Qur'an's sanctity in the pursuit of women's rights.

Dr. Barlas' persistent exploration delves into the concept of an ungendered Islamic theology, interrogating specific references to gender roles within the Qur'an within the context of time and culture. Her scholarship emphasizes an "ethics of responsiblization," highlighting mutual care and guardianship between women and men, as she aptly rephrases Jacques Derrida.

Among her significant contributions is the seminal work "Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an," initially published by the University of Texas Press in 2002. This impactful work has traversed linguistic boundaries, with translations in Bahasa Indonesia and derivative essays in multiple languages. The work's continued relevance led to a revised second edition in 2019, along with an abridged version co-authored with David R. Finn.

Dr. Barlas is an accomplished poet and writer of short stories, showcasing her multifaceted talents. Her thought-provoking op-eds have graced esteemed platforms such as Al-Jazeera, The Guardian, Open Democracy, New Statesman, and The Daily Times.

She earned her B.A. in English Literature and Philosophy from Kinnaird College, followed by an M.A. in Journalism from the University of the Punjab, Pakistan, where she achieved the first position. Her academic zenith was marked by the completion of an M.A. and Ph.D. with distinction in International Studies from the Graduate School of International Studies.

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