Bruce Lawrence Papers, 1968-2011

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Summary

Creator:
Lawrence, Bruce B.
Abstract:
Bruce Lawrence is a professor in the Department of Religion and the founding director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center (DISC). The Bruce Lawrence papers include materials related to the founding of DISC as well as other programs and projects related to Islam and Middle East Studies both at Duke and elsewhere.
Extent:
3.5 Linear Feet
Language:
Materials in English and Arabic.
Collection ID:
UA.29.02.0256
University Archives Record Group:
29 -- Papers of Faculty, Staff, and Associates
29 -- Papers of Faculty, Staff, and Associates > 02 -- Individuals

Background

Scope and content:

The collection includes materials related to the work of Bruce Lawrence at Duke University, particularly related to the development and work of the Duke Islamic Studies Center (DISC). Topics covered include Duke centers and programs related to Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies; work in and relationships with the country of Morocco, including cultural and arts festivals, a partnership between Duke University and Mohammed V University, and a Duke-in-Morocco program, some of which includes correspondence with Angier Biddle Duke; international seminars and programs (including some in partnership with the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, especially in Morocco); grant and funding applications (including several from the Pew Charitable Trusts); Islamic art and architecture; history of religions; South East Asia; and other topics. Materials include notes, correspondence, conference programs and flyers, news clippings, research materials, and writings by Bruce Lawrence.

Biographical / historical:

Bruce Lawrence was born in Netwon, New Jersey in 1941. He graduated Princeton University in 1962 with a BA in Near Eastern Studies, served in the U.S. Navy from 1962-1964, graduated from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with an M. Div in Biblical Studies, and graduate from Yale University in 1972 with a Ph.D, studying Hiduism and Islam.

Lawrence joined the faculty of Duke University in 1971, in the Department of Religion. He taught and continued his research in comparative study of religious movements and institutional Islam. He was instrumental in the creation of the Carolina-Duke-Emory Institute for the Study of Islam (CDEISI) in 1997, which later evolved into the Center for the Study of Muslim Networks in 2002. In 2006, the Duke Islamic Studies Center (DISC) was formally established, with Bruce Lawrence as the founding director. DISC is an interdisciplinary center that, as of 2016, offers a Focus Program cluster and a DukeEngage Program, hosts a number of programs and events including speakers, panels, and film screenings, and sponsors initiatives such as the Transcultural Islam Project and ISLAMiCommentary.

Bruce Lawrence has written a number of books including Defenders of God: The Fundamentalist Revolt Against the Modern Age(1989), Shattering the Myth: Islam Beyond Violence (1998), The Qur'an: Books that Changed the World (2008), and Who is Allah? (2015). He was awarded two Fulbright Scholarships (1995 and 2006) and selected as a Carnegie Corporation Scholar of Islam in 2008.

He married fellow Duke professor miriam cooke in 1983.

Acquisition information:
The Bruce Lawrence Papers were received by the University Archives as a gift from Bruce Lawrence in 2016 and 2023.
Processing information:

Processed by Tracy M. Jackson, May 2016

Accessions described in this collection guide: UA2016-0017.

UA2023-0051 added and finding aid updated by April Blevins, September 2023

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged into two series: Duke Administrative Materials and Professional Activities.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Access restricted. Some materials in this collection are Duke University administrative materials. For a period of twenty-five years from the origin of the material, permission in writing from the office of origin and the University Archivist is required for use of administrative records. After twenty-five years, records that have been processed may be consulted with the permission of the University Archivist. Contact Research Services for more information.

Access restricted. Some materials in this collection include student records. In accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 as amended, Duke University permits students to inspect their education records and limits the disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records. Contact Research Services for more information.

Access note. Some materials in this collection are fragile audiovisual/photographic formats that may need to be reformatted before use. Contact Research Services for access.

Terms of access:

Copyright for Official University records is held by Duke University; all other copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Bruce Lawrence Papers, Duke University Archives, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1v13h