Mission, Vision and Objectives

Over the past twenty years since 9/11, Muslim Americans have received unprecedented negative public and political attention. Islamophobic attacks across the U.S., including in Arizona, have cast Muslims as "outsiders" and "terrorists.”

Despite this context of popular mistrust and outright hate, the U.S. Muslim population has grown exponentially and is projected to be the second largest religious minority by 2030.

Despite the significant presence of Muslims, many Americans know little about Islam or the Muslims who are their neighbors and fellow citizens. Muslim Americans are a highly diverse community, with 75% being first- or second-generation immigrants. The majority are from South Asia, followed by Southeast and East Asia, the Arab world and Sub-Saharan Africa. The remaining 25% of Muslim Americans are native born, with the majority of those being African American, and the rest including white Americans and a rapidly increasing number of Hispanics and Latinos.

As the number of American Muslims has increased, discrimination and attacks against Muslims have also become more frequent, including violent threats, vandalism of mosques, attacks on veiled women and public desecrations of Qur'ans.

Despite the threats to life and property that Muslims face, the vast majority of American Muslims strive hard to create a place of belonging and are making positive contributions in a variety of fields, including the arts and culture, politics, media and scholarship, technology and medical sciences. Yet, those contributions are little known and/or ignored because Muslims continue to be viewed as unwanted immigrants who are not accepted as Americans.

These trends demand deepening our understanding of American Muslim experiences to dismantle the stereotypes and misconceptions. By addressing these challenges, CME-US will reaffirm the American multicultural ethos that celebrates cultural diversity, affirms inclusivity and cultivates inter-community appreciation.

Built on this critical need, the purpose of CME-US is to contribute to American multicultural values by strengthening Muslim inclusion. Additionally, CME-US will bolster ASU's mission to positively impact student and faculty success through cultivating leadership, belonging and hope. CME-US’s community focus will also enhance ASU-Arizona Muslim community partnerships and draw the larger national Muslim community into ASU’s mission. 

CME-US will achieve its goals through a humanistic approach to the study of Islam and Muslims, complemented by social science and transdisciplinary approaches, including journalism and communication studies, law, language and area studies, gender studies and related fields. ASU's transdisciplinary ideals are the foundation of CME-US and will encourage:

• Divergent thinking on Muslim Americans, 
• Appreciation of real-life experiences, and,
• Creative solutions to social problems.

This approach is distinct from the traditional interdisciplinary model of area studies centers that are focused on bounded knowledge of discrete areas and individual scholarship. CME-US will create collaborative partnerships to address the present challenges of the negative perceptions of Muslim diversity, transforming knowledge for positive future relations between communities. 

Despite being active members of the American social and cultural fabric, Muslim Americans are not viewed as a core internal group. Placed in the Middle East or Asia, the established centers for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies in the U.S. perpetuate the “foreignness” of Muslims, while the field of American studies ignores Muslim Americans.

CME-US is a unique and trailblazing effort to bridge this academic and social gap nationally and globally. CME-US’s vision showcases the exceptional opportunity of studying the diversity of Muslims in the American context who are converging and creating a distinct American Muslim identity.

CME-US will probe the dynamic processes of this identity formation, offering a fresh interpretation of American creative inclusivity. Such an approach will enable sustainable solutions to current social and political divisions.

CME-US is committed to working with local and national partners to advance ASU and CME-US’s shared mission.