About

Benjamin Soares is director of the Center for Global Islamic Studies and a professor in the Department of Religion at the University of Florida. He is a scholar of Islam and Muslim societies in Africa whose research focuses on religious life from the early 20th century to the present. Soares’ recent work looks at the connections between changing modalities of religious expression, different modes of belonging, and emergent social imaginaries in colonial and postcolonial West Africa. In addition to ongoing interests in religious encounters and religion, media, and the public sphere, he studies contemporary Muslim public intellectuals in Africa. Soares is the author of numerous books and co-edits Africa, the journal of the International African Institute (London), and the International African Library book series (Cambridge). He holds a PhD from Northwestern University.rei