Dr. Ermin Sinanović
Ermin Sinanović, Ph.D., is a political scientist and scholar of Islam whose work focuses on the comparative politics of Muslim societies, contemporary Islamic thought, and Islam’s role in global political and social life. He is the Executive Director of the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World at Shenandoah University, where he also serves as Scholar in Residence. He is also a Faculty Associate in Research with the Southeast Asia Program at Cornell University.
Born and raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina, then part of Yugoslavia, Dr. Sinanović has lived in Croatia, Malaysia, and the United States. His personal and academic journey across the Balkans, Southeast Asia, and North America shapes his scholarship on Islam as a global, diverse, and historically rooted tradition.
Dr. Sinanović earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Before coming to the United States, he completed two bachelor’s degrees at the International Islamic University Malaysia, one in Qur’an and Sunnah Studies and the other in Political Science, as well as a master’s degree in Islamic Civilization from the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization in Kuala Lumpur.
His research examines transnational Islamic revival, Islamist activism, Islamic political thought, Southeast Asian politics, contemporary Islamic thought, and the institutionalization of Islam in the Balkans and Southeast Asia. Before joining Shenandoah University, he served as Director of Research and Academic Programs at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and taught in the Department of Political Science at the United States Naval Academy.
He frequently lectures and consults on Islam and politics, Southeast Asian politics, and the Balkans. He speaks Bosnian, English, Arabic, and Malay.
Expertise
Comparative Politics of Muslim Societies
Islam and Politics
Islamic Political Thought
Contemporary Islamic Thought
Transnational Islamic Revival and Reform
Islamist Activism
Southeast Asian Politics
Islam in the Balkans
Institutionalization of Islam in Muslim Societies
Leadership in Higher Education
Decolonial Thought and Muslim Intellectual Traditions
Selected Publications and Works
The Muslim Resolutions: Bosniak Responses to World War Two Atrocities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Co-edited with Hikmet Karčić and Ferid Dautović, Center for Islam in the Contemporary World, 2021.
“Standing Up for Justice in the Muslim Tradition”
Chapter in The Muslim Resolutions: Bosniak Responses to World War Two Atrocities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2021.
“Post-Islamism: The Failure of Islamic Activism?”
A scholarly study engaging debates on Islamic activism, political change, and the limits of post-Islamist frameworks.
“Reform of Higher Education in Muslim Societies”
A background paper prepared for a conference organized by the International Institute of Islamic Thought and the Woodrow Wilson Center.
Islam on the Edges
A research agenda and public scholarship project exploring Muslim societies and communities beyond assumed geographic and intellectual centers of the Islamic world, including the Balkans, Southeast Asia, and other understudied regions.
Languages
Bosnian / Serbian / Croatian — native
English
Arabic
Malay
