Cox Family Process Speaker Series, featuring Caleb Elfenbein

5th Annual Cox Family Process Speaker Series, featuring Caleb Elfenbein

Conditional Inclusion: What Islamophobia Keeps Telling Us about America

April 2, 2025 | 4pm - 6pm | Aspen Room 285-289, University Memorial Center

Conditional Inclusion: What Islamophobia Keeps Telling Us about America
5th Annual Cox Family Process Speaker Series

If You Go

Wednesday, April 2, 2025, 4pm - 6pm
University Memorial Center, Aspen Room (285-289)
First 25 people to register and attend will receive a copy of .
A reception with hors d'oeuvres and refreshments will follow the talk.
Event is free and open to the public.

The CHA welcomed author and History and Religious Studies Professor Caleb Elfenbein to ɫ��ֱ��'s campus to discuss the process of writing his book , which argues that anti-Muslim activity reveals how fear is corroding core American values.

Elfenbein’s exploration of Islamophobia is also reflected in his project , which visualizes how incidents of anti-Muslim hostility accumulate over time, affecting how American Muslims engage in public life. Both the book and the project provide critical insights into how Islamophobia shapes American values and the barriers it creates for Muslim communities seeking to participate fully in society.

Elfenbein presented his work on Islamophobia, and then was joined by Dr. Nabil Echchaibi (ɫ��ֱ�� Professor of Media Studies, Director of the Center for Media, Religion and Culture) for a conversation on what we can do to continue combatting anti-Muslim sentiment/violence.

A reception with hors d'oeuvres and refreshments followed the discussion, along with a book giveaway of Elfenbein's book to the first 25 to register and attend.

Event Schedule

3:45 PM - 4:00 PM | Doors Open

4:00 PM - 4:30 PM | Presentation/Talk by Dr. Caleb Elfenbein

4:30 PM - 5:00 PM | Dr. Caleb Elfenbein in conversation with Dr. Nabil Echchaibi

5:00 PM - 5:30 PM | Q&A from audience

5:30 PM - 6:00 PM | Reception (hors d'oeuvres, light refreshments, desserts)

Fear in Our Hearts book cover

About the Book

In Fear in Our Hearts (NYU Press, 2021), Caleb Iyer Elfenbein examines Islamophobia in the United States, positing that rather than simply being an outcome of the 9/11 attacks, anti-Muslim activity grows out of a fear of difference that has always characterized US public life. Elfenbein examines the effects of this fear on American Muslims, as well as describing how it works to shape and distort American society.

Drawing on over 1,800 news reports documenting anti-Muslim activity, Elfenbein pinpoints trends, draws connections to the broader histories of immigration, identity, belonging, and citizenship in the US, and examines how Muslim communities have responded.

In the face of public fear and hate, American Muslim communities have sought to develop connections with non-Muslims through unprecedented levels of community transparency, outreach, and public engagement efforts. Despite the hostile environment that has made these efforts necessary, American Muslims have faced down their own fears to offer a model for building communities and creating more welcoming conditions of public life for everyone.

Arguing that anti-Muslim activity tells us as much about the state of core American values in general as it does about the particular experiences of American Muslims, this compelling look at Muslims in America offers practical ideas about how we can create a more welcoming public life for all in our everyday lives.

Mapping Islamophobia

Map of the accumulation of Islamophobic events and incidents from 2008-2020 in the United States, indicating when and where spikes of activity occur / Mapping Islamophobia, Grinnell College

Caleb Elfenbein’s book builds on . It analyzes trends in the project’s original data; draws connections to broader histories of immigration, identity, race, belonging, and citizenship in the US; and examines how Muslims in the United States have responded to historically unprecedented levels of public anti-Muslim hostility.

In addition to discussing broad trends in data on anti-Muslim activity and American Muslim outreach efforts, the book draws out individual stories and moments from the data to explore the effects of fear and public hate in human lives. In this way, Fear in Our Hearts reflects the spirit of digital humanism that animates Mapping Islamophobia.

About Caleb Elfenbein, the Cox Speaker

Caleb Elfenbein

Caleb Elfenbein is a Professor at Grinnell College and Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He holds a degree in political science from Vassar College, a Master’s in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, and a PhD in religious studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research explores human welfare, focusing on anti-Muslim hostility in the U.S. and its impact on American Muslim participation in public life. His book Fear in Our Hearts: What Islamophobia Tells Us about America (NYU Press) examines connections between Islamophobia, racism, citizenship, and efforts by Muslim communities to humanize themselves.