| Name | Dr. Rebecca Masterton | Position | Senior Lecturer |
| Department | Specialties | ||
| Email Address |
masterton.r@googlemail.com | Phone Number | 020 8451 9993 |
Biography:
Dr Rebecca Masterton has graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa, in which she critiqued the effects of secularism and colonialism upon traditional Islamic teachings on the self, from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Dr Masterton has been teaching for nearly fifteen years through different media, including one-to-one tuition; short courses at Birkbeck College, University of London; BA and MA programmes at the Islamic College in London, both in-house and on-line; and on-line classes for the Islamic Institute for Postgraduate Studies (Damascus and Birmingham). She has also lectured widely at conferences both in Europe and the United States. Currently she is developing a series of online short courses on Islam and the humanities at Online Shi‘a Studies
Research and Publications
PUBLICATIONS:
Forthcoming: Thoughts on Light: a collection of lectures from the last ten years.
Forthcoming: ICAS Press, London
A History of Spirituality in Europe: from Pharaonic Times to the Present Day, 300pps.
2019 Arca, Revue de Nouveau Monde, Belgium, No. 3
Article: ‘Comprendre la spiritualité d’un point de vue chiite’, pps 79-90. Trans. Alexandre Feye
2018 IslamIFC Qom, Iran
Inner Dimensions of Hajj, a collection of lectures by Zohreh Borurjerdi. Translated from Persian.
2018 The Warith Magazine, Karbala Article: Imam Hussain’s Stand Against Materialism 2018 Caduceus, Sussex Article: Survival Under Oppression: The Story of the Shi‘i Tradition 2018 Caduceus, Sussex Article: Shi‘i Islam: the Way of the Prophetic Family
2016 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, Virginia
Review: Medina in Birmingham; Najaf in Brent: Inside British Islam by Innes Bowen
2015 Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies, Islamic College, London
Review: Islamic Images and Ideas: Essays on Sacred Symbolism ed. John Andrew Morrow
2015 Claremont Journal of Religion, Claremont, CA Article: Walāya as a Response to the Self-Other Dichotomy in European Philosophy.
2014 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, Virginia
Article: ‘A comparative exploration of the spiritual authority of the awliyā’ in the Shī‘ī and Sūfī traditions’.
2014 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, Virginia
Review: A History of Shi‘i Islam, Farhad Daftary (London; New York: IB Tauris & Co. Ltd, in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2013)
2013 Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies, Islamic College, London
Review: The Spirit of Tolerance in Islam, by Reza Shah-Kazemi (London; New York: IB Tauris Publishers in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, Occasional Papers 4, 2012)
2009 Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies, Islamic College, London
Article: A Critical Comparison of Cosmic Hierarchies in the Development of Christian and Islamic Mystical Theology
2009 Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies, Islamic College, London
Review: Early Islam between Myth and History: Al-Hasan al-Basri (d. 110H/728 CE) and the Formation of His Legacy in Classical Islamic Scholarship, by Suleiman Ali Mourad.
2009 Journal of Qur’anic Studies, SOAS, London
Review: Sufism, The Formative Period, by Ahmet T. Karamustafa.
2008 Journal of Shi‘a Islamic Studies, Islamic College, London
Review: The Other Shiites, Monsutti, Naef and Sabahi (eds).
2008 Passing Through the Dream… to the Other Side, Light Reading, London
A collection of short stories blending esoteric Islam with the culture of Western Europe
2008 Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies
Review: Fighting the Greater Jihad, by Cheikh Anta Babou.
2008 Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies
Article: Islamic Mystical Readings of Cheikh Hamidou Kane.
2008 IB Tauris, London
300 page French to English translation of a volume of Qur’anic ethics entitled The Moral World of the Qur’an, by M. A. Draz.
2007 Andalusia Anthology, Canada
Short stories Being on Time and Rumsfeld’s Return.
2007 Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies
Review: Muslim-Christian Encounters in Africa, ed. Benjamin Soares
2007 Oxford Journal of Islamic Studies
Article: Islamic Mystical Resonances in Fulbe Literature
2005 Q-News, London
Prize-winning short story: The Ink of the Scholar
2004-2007 Islam-Online, Cairo
The following articles and reviews: ‘The Drowned History of New Orleans’; ‘West African Islam Comes to European Theaters’; ‘A Letter to the Prime Minister’; ‘Tales from Muslim Lands Enchant British Theater-goers’; ‘Mystical Shakespeare Draws the Audience “Through the Rug”; ‘Portraying Twelver Shi’a Ramadan in London’; ‘Sunjata: A Muslim Hero in 13th Century Africa’; ‘Debate Probes Debt Relief for Africa’; ‘Mansa Musa’; ‘The 3000-Year Battle for Palestine’; ‘The Road to Insanity’; ‘The Sokoto Caliphate: Dar al-‘Ilm’; ‘Norouz: A New Year, A Time for Reflection’; ‘The Beautiful Names: Striking a Sensitive Note’; ‘Hijab in Iran: Many Shades of Meaning’.
Journal of Qur’anic Studies, SOAS, London
Review: Swedenborg and Esoteric Islam: two essays by Henry Corbin
2003 Q-News, London
Article on Professor Eric Herring at the University of Bristol, his establishment of ‘Critical Security Studies’ and his research into economic sanctions.
2001 Journal of Asian and African Studies, University of Philadelphia, USA
Review: In Search of Sunjata, ed. Ralph Austen.
African Arts, University of California, Los Angeles, USA
Review: One Woman’s Jihad: Nana Asma’u, Scholar and Scribe.
1996 Middle East Times, Cairo
Article: Ignorance of Islam.
Education, Qualification and Training
EDUCATION:
2001-2006 School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London
PhD Islamic and Francophone Literature of West Africa
A comparative analysis of European secular and Islamic esoteric thought in francophone literature of West Africa.
1998-2000 School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London
MA Comparative African/East Asian Literature (Merit)
Covering the development of modern literature in China and Japan; theory and techniques of literary criticism; and African language literatures.
1990-1994 School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London
BA Honours Japanese (Grade 2/1)
Including study in Japan for three months. Two years of Indonesian language.
Teaching
TEACHING QUALIFICATIONS
2011 TEFL England, Dingwall, Scotland
Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)/Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
2001 Hammersmith and West London College, Hammersmith
City & Guilds 7307 for Higher Education and Adults
WORK EXPERIENCE:
2013-now Online Shi‘a Studies
Set up an educational centre, www.onlineshiastudies.com, for teaching short courses on-line. Subjects include the Tenets of Tashayyu’, Early Shī‘ī History, Esoteric Knowledge in Tashayyu’, Islam in Africa and Comparative Literature. Sold courses to Jafari Seminary, Sidhpur, Gujarat, which they have translated into Gujarati. Taught Early Shī‘ī History at Hawzatul Hidayat, Trinidad, summer 2019.
2019 Astan e Quds Razavi, Mashhad
Editing and proofreading translation of the Qur’ān.
2011 Islamic Institute for Post-GraduateStudies, Damascus and Birmingham
Gave two series of live on-line lectures in Islamic culture, Islamic mysticism and media.
2009-now Ahlulbayt TV, London
Present a live programme with a range of scholars, three times a week. Topics are social, historical and religious. Also present an arts show and giving a number of lectures for a series. Broadcasted twice-daily shows live from Karbala, Iraq.
2009 Hadi TV, London
Presenter for a series of lectures on Islamic mysticism broadcasted to Asia.
2008-2013 Islamic College for Advanced Studies, London
Position: Senior Lecturer.
Created a twelve-unit 350 page on-line textbook on Islamic mysticism which I teach as a module for an MA Islamic Studies Comparative Philosophy Distance Learning program. Created a textbook on Western mysticism which I also teach for this program. Teach BA Islamic mysticism and MA Islamic mysticism in-house. Member of the Academic Board. Supervise Masters and DProf dissertations. Course manager for BA Muslim Cultures and Civilisations.
2007-2008 School of Continuing Education, Birkbeck College
Sessional Lecturer for courses on Islamic mysticism.
2007-2008 Press TV, West London
Co-producer and presenter for a twice-weekly religious and cultural affairs programme called Nexus for this Iranian English language satellite channel.
2005-2006 Sahar Satellite TV, Iran and London
Producer and presenter for a twenty-part series, locating and interviewing Muslim women, both convert and born, about their work and thought. Additional interviews with university professors on subjects related to Islam, society, science and politics.
2004-2006 School of Oriental & African Studies; Centre for Asian and African Studies
Assistant researcher for Prof. Kate Zebiri on a publication entitled British Muslim Converts; assistant editor for publication entitled Translating Other; proofreading PhDs for publication.
2002-2004 Institute of Islamic Studies, London
Freelance editorial work on articles about Islamic philosophy and
mysticism for Transcendent Philosophy, a quarterly publication. Translating academic articles from French to English
2001-2004 Islamic College for Advanced Studies, College of Northwest London
Lecturer for ‘A’ level English literature
Resources:
Please find a full CV