Anna Mansson McGinty
Education
PhD, European Ethnology, Lund University, Sweden, 2002
MA, European Ethnology, Lund University, 1996
BA, European Ethnology, Lund University, 1994
Office Hours
Mondays 2:00 – 3:00pm
Courses Taught
GEOG 231 – Muslim Geographies: Identities and Politics
GEOG 381 – Honors Seminar: Gendered Spaces
GEOG 410 – Gendered Geographies
WGS 300 – Gender and Spirituality: Women and Gender in Islam
WGS 401 – Global Feminisms
WGS 411 – Women’s and Gender Studies Research Methods
WGS 500 – Advanced Social Science Seminar: Gender and Culture
WGS 700 – Feminist Issues and Scholarship
WGS 701 – Advanced Global Feminisms
WGS 711 – Advanced Women’s and Gender Studies Research Methods
Research Interests
My research and teaching center on Muslim geographies, feminist geography, and feminist and qualitative research methods. My research examines the formation of Muslim identities and geographies in the West, looking at the intertwined personal, social, and political contexts. Overall, my research agenda is driven by an interest in identity processes, gender, religion and activism, and politics of representations.
My book Becoming Muslim. Western Women’s Conversion to Islam (Palgrave Macmillan 2006) is a person-centered ethnography on Swedish and American women who have converted to Islam with focus on their self-identity, personal life-story, and understanding of Islam. In a research project called Gender Identity and Activism among Muslim Women in the Midwest, I looked at gender identity and political, social, and religious activism of Muslim women in the Midwest. I’m involved in a multiyear project and collaborative partnership between academic researchers and Muslim community leaders, The Muslim Milwaukee Project (together with Caroline Seymour-Jorn and Kristin Sziarto), which examines the characteristics and dynamics of the Muslim communities in Milwaukee. In an ongoing ethnographic project, Young, Muslim, and American: An Ethnography of Muslim Youth in Milwaukee, I look at the diverse religious, cultural, political, and personal expressions of Muslim youth cultures and identities in the greater Milwaukee area. Looking at the intricate relationship of identity, gender, faith, and activism, the project explores important questions regarding contemporary expressions of Islam in the United States and Muslim minority experiences.