Lecturer in Islamic Studies, King's College London
Area of Expertise: Civil Society, Migration and Integration, Religion
Geographical Expertise - Region: Asia, North Africa and Middle East
Geographical Expertise - Country: Algeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Thailand, Tunisia
Languages: Arabic, Dutch, English
Field of Work: Academia, Author/Novelist
Dr. Carool Kersten’s is a senior lecturer in the study of Islam and the Muslim world at King’s College London and a research associate at the Centre for South East Asian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He is the author of Cosmopolitans and Heretics: New Muslim Intellectuals and the Study of Islam (2011), co-editor of Demystifying the Caliphate (2012) and the editor of the book series Contemporary Thought in the Islamic World for Asghate Publishing.
Dr. Kersten was an affiliate of the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore. He has held fellowships and received research grants from the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), British Academy, European Science Foundation, Higher Education Academy (HEA), and University of London.
His areas of expertise include contemporary Islam and current affairs in the Muslim world, Islam in Southeast Asia and modern Muslim thought. He has a particular interest in liberal Islam, alternative Islamic discourses and the work of progressive Muslim intellectuals.
Before moving to the UK, he taught history and religion at the center for graduate and international studies at Payap University in Thailand. Prior to that he worked for more than ten years in a variety of corporate positions in Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Kersten is the author of a number of books on Southeast Asian history and religion, and he has contributed chapters and entries to textbooks for the study of religion and encyclopedias on current and international affairs, including the history of conflict and war. His writings have appeared in academic journals and current affairs periodicals. He is also a regular contributor on current affairs for a regional radio station in the Netherlands.
Dr. Kersten has a PhD in the study of religions, an MA (with distinction) in Arabic language and culture, a certificate in Southeast Asian studies, and has done graduate work in philosophy.