Max Johnson Dugan's works on modern Islamic material and visual culture, embodiment and emotions. His dissertation examines Halal consumption in Philadelphia using a combination of ethnographic and digital humanistic methods in order to understand how Islamic tradition, embodiment and the exigencies of urban life give halal goods their purchase. 

He has published peer-reviewed scholarship about how Muslim women negotiate Islamic traditions through tattooing, popular Islamic wall art producers stratify the Islamic wall art market, and a South Asian Muslim community navigates intergenerational tensions through the construction of a basketball court. He also has ongoing research projects on popular Islamic art in the United States (funded by the Templeton Religion Trust), the affective dynamics of basketball in Muslim communities, and postcolonial and racialized affects. 

Max is committed to collaborative knowledge production that is impactful for scholars and communities alike. At Kenyon, he is the assistant advisor for the Muslim Students Association and the Culinary Club. From 2014 to 2019, he led interfaith youth dialogue with Interfaith Philadelphia and continues to support their work as a fellow. As a digital humanities practitioner, he is the technical lead of Re/member Black Philadelphia, the Black Resistance Tour of Philadelphia and Unstable Archives.

Areas of Expertise

Islamic material and visual culture, Islam in North America, material religion

Education

2023 — Doctor of Philosophy from University of Pennsylvania

2014 — Bachelor of Arts from Kenyon College

Courses Recently Taught

This course includes brief introductions to four or five major religious traditions while exploring concepts and categories used in the study of religion, such as sacredness, myth, ritual, religious experience and social dimensions of religion. Traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism and Native American traditions may be presented through important texts and practices. This counts toward the 100-level introduction to religious studies course requirement for the major. No prerequisite. Offered every semester.

This course explores the rich history and diverse traditions that are part of the Christian heritage. Close to 2 billion people today call themselves Christians. Who is a Christian? What are some of the differences among their traditions? How do Christians define — and how have they defined — the identity of Jesus? Why do Christians have different canons for their sacred scriptures? What is salvation, and how is it achieved? Where is Christianity growing and decreasing in the world today? What attitudes have Christians shown toward gender, wealth, poverty, science, art and other issues? Over a span of 2,000 years, Christians in different parts of the globe have answered these questions in an amazing variety of ways. It is not an exaggeration to speak about Christianities or the faiths of Christians, considering the ever-changing networks of movements, beliefs, practices and forms of identification that we can appreciate as part of the long trajectories of the world Christian movement. This counts toward the religious traditions requirement as Christianity. No prerequisite. Offered every two years.

This course serves as an introduction to the religion of Islam, a diverse tradition that includes more than a billion adherents and is a dominant cultural element in a geographical region that stretches from Morocco to Indonesia. This course focuses primarily on the development of Islam and Islamic institutions from the time of the Prophet Muhammad through the emergence of the Sufi tradition as a primary expression of Muslim piety in the late medieval period. Special attention is given to the rise and development of Sunni, Shi'i and Sufi pieties as distinctive responses to the event of the Qur'anic revelation throughout the history of Islam. This counts toward the religious traditions requirement as Islam. No prerequisite. Offered every fall.

This advanced course examines Islam in contemporary North America and Canada. It explores such topics as the religious diversity of the Muslim community; the relevance and practice of Islamic law in a secular society; the problem of Islamophobia; and issues of race, ethnicity and gender among North American Muslims. This counts toward the religious traditions requirement as Islamic. No prerequisite.