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Andrea smiling

Andrea Stanton

Professor, Islamic Studies and Digital Religion

Academic Dean, Curricular Advancement

andrea.stanton@du.edu

303-871-3503 (Office)

Sturm Hall, 2000 East Asbury Avenue Denver, CO 80208

What I do

I am Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Denver and serve the College as Associate Dean for Curricular Advancement. I direct our Middle East Studies minor and our Applied AI & Society Minor.

I am also an affiliated faculty member in our Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies Program as well as our Center for Community Engagement.

Specialization(s)

Media and religion, Middle Eastern history, digital religion, contemporary Islam, digital Islam, Mandate Palestine, media history

Professional Biography

I obtained my MA and PhD in Middle Eastern history from Columbia University, and my BA in history and in religion from Williams College. My research agenda follows two tracks: 20th century Palestinian and Arab world history, focusing on intersections between mass media forms and national or social identities, and 21st century Islam, focusing on intersections between contemporary media forms (mass and individual), state interests, and personal piety. My religious studies research areas are thus in digital Islam, digital religion, and lived religion. At DU, I teach a range of courses related to media and religion as well as on the Middle East more broadly.

Degree(s)

  • Ph.D., Middle East History, Columbia University, 2007

Professional Affiliations

  • American Academy of Religion
  • Middle East Studies Association
  • American Historical Association
  • Association of Internet Researchers
  • Women Historians of the Middle East
  • Syrian Studies Association

Media Sources

Research

My research interests follow two primary tracks: 20th century Arab-world media history, with a continuing focus on nation building and technology, particularly in Palestine; and contemporary manifestations of piety among Muslims in the United States and the Middle East, with a particular focus on intersections and amplifications through technology, including apps and websites.

Areas of Research

media and religion
radio history
media history
contemporary Islam
digital religion
national identity
personal piety
digital Islam
Mandate Palestine

Key Projects

  • Radio and Decolonization Around the Globe, 1920-Present
  • Radio and Decolonization: Bringing Sound into 20th Century History
  • University of Denver (CO): Expanding Core Strengths in Middle East Studies
  • Supporting JDP Faculty and Students of Color
  • Teaching Connected Histories of the Mediterranean
  • Religion and Peacebuilding: Public Talk Series
  • Religion in the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains
  • Interfaith Youth Core
  • Religion and Peacebuilding: Public Talk Series

Featured Publications

Stanton, Andrea. “Recovering Palestinian Lives: Qudsiyya Khurshid from Mandate Palestine to Postwar Pennsylvania.” International Journal of Middle East Studies, (2025).
Stanton, Andrea. The Wireless World: Global Histories of International Radio Broadcasting. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 2022.
Stanton, Andrea. “From Mecca With Love: Muslim Religious Apps and the Centering of Sacred Geography.” In Cyber Muslims: Mapping Islamic Digital Media in the Internet Age. 161-75 London: Bloomsbury. 2022.
Stanton, Andrea. “Locating Radio in the Soundscape of Mandate Jerusalem.” Jerusalem Quarterly, (2021).
Stanton, Andrea. “Islamic Emoticons and Religious Authority: Emerging Practices, Shifting Paradigms.” Journal of Contemporary Islam, (2017).
Stanton, Andrea. This Is Jerusalem Calling: State Radio in Mandate Palestine. Austin, USA: University of Texas Press. 2013. 260.

Presentations

Stanton, Andrea. “Broadcasting Religious & Cultural Modernism” Middle East Studies Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, Middle East Studies Association, 2023.
Stanton, Andrea. “Radio & Decolonization” Radio Preservation Task Force, Library of Congress, Library of Congress, 2023.
Stanton, Andrea. “App Developers As (Religious) Authorities: Muslim Sermon Lecture Apps & Technological Affordances ” Zoom, University of Helsinki Islamic Studies Program, 2023.
Stanton, Andrea. “Mosques of Instagram: Site-Based Accounts, Hashtags, Believer Engagement, and National Identity” Religion and Bible Society of the Rocky Mountain-Great Plains Region Annual Meeting, Regis University, Denver, Religion and Bible Society of the Rocky Mountain-Great Plains Region, 2023.
Stanton, Andrea. “Hajj and Umrah in the COVID Era: Digital and Governmental Responses” Islamic Responses to COVID-19: Authority and Religiosity in #Muslim Communities and Digital Worlds, virtual, University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, 2021.
Stanton, Andrea, and Nadezhda Stancheva Kaneva. “Understanding the ‘State’ in Islamic State: Mediated Articulations of the Caliphate’s State Ideology” Imagined Borders, Epistemic Freedoms, Boulder, Center for Media, Religion, and Culture, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2020.

Awards

  • Kathleen Connolly-Weinert Leader-of-the-Year Award, Theta Alpha Kappa
  • Outstanding Faculty Member Award, Joint Ph.D. Program Student Association
  • Center for World Languages and Cultures Champion Award, Center for World Languages and Cultures