Curriculum_Vitae.813.. - Dr. Wesley Muhammad

Education
Curriculum Vita
W. Wesley Williams, Ph D.
email: wesleywillms@yahoo.com
Ph.D., Near Eastern Studies (Islamic Studies), University of Michigan,
Department of Near Eastern Studies, Ann Arbor, 2002-2008.
Attained candidacy in 2003 with examinations in Hanbalism, Islamic Theology,
Islamic Law, Islamic Intellectual History, and Classical Arabic Texts. Defended
April 2, 2008, dissertation entitled Tajalli wa Ru’ya: A Study of Anthropomorphic
Theophany and Visio Dei in the Hebrew Bible, the Qur’ān and Early Sunnī Islam.
M.A., Near Eastern Studies (Islamic Studies), University of Michigan,
Department of Near Eastern Studies, Ann Arbor, 1999-2002
B.A., cum laude, major in Religious Studies, Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA,
1990-1994
Fellowships, Scholarships, Grants
Rackham One Term Dissertation Fellowship, The University of Michigan,
Rackham School of Graduate Studies, 2007
Rackham Merit Fellowship, The University of Michigan, Rackham School
of Graduate Studies, 1999-2001, Summer 2002, Winter 2003, Winter 2004,
Fall 2005
Rackham International Conference Travel Grant, The University of
Michigan, Rackham School of Graduate Studies, 2002
King•Chávez•Parks Doctoral Fellowship, The University of Michigan,
Rackham School of Graduate Studies, 2001
Rackham Conference Travel Grant, The University of Michigan, Rackham
School of Graduate Studies, 2001
Summer Language Institute Fellowship, Department of Germanic
Languages and Literatures, The University of Michigan, Summer 2001
Summer Arabic Program Partial Fellowship, The University of Chicago,
Summer 1999
Awards and Distinctions
Great Books of Islam Prize, Center For Middle East and Near Eastern
Studies, University of Michigan, 2003

Third Place, 11 th Annual Students of Color of Rackham Conference
Writing Competition, University of Michigan, 2001
Great Books of Islam Prize, Center For Middle East and Near Eastern
Studies, University of Michigan, 2001
Dean’s List, Morehouse College, Fall 1998, Winter 1999
Publications, Presentations, Posts
Training
“A Body Unlike Bodies: Transcendent Anthropomorphism in Ancient Semitic
Tradition and Early Islam,” Journal of the American Oriental Society, 128 (2009):
(forthcoming)
“Black Muslim Theology and the Classical Islamic Tradition: Possibilities of a
Rapprochement” American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 25:4 (2008): 61-89
“Aspects of the Creed of Ahmad b. Hanbal: A Study in Anthropomorphism in
Early Islamic Discourse,” International Journal of Middle East Studies, 34 (2002):
441-463
“Sapphiric God: Speculation on the Body Divine in Jewish Esoteric Tradition,”
Harvard Theological Review, Revise/Resubmit
“A Body Unlike Bodies: Transcendent Anthropomorphism, Divine Embodiment,
and Early Sunnism,” 5 th Annual Duke-UNC Graduate Islamic Studies
Conference, April 5, 2008
Panel Chair, First World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies, University of
Mainz, Germany, September 11, 2002
“Theophany and Visio Dei in Early Islam,” First World Congress for Middle
Eastern Studies, University of Mainz, Germany, September 11, 2002
“Ru’yat Allah: Muhammad’s Vision of God and its Place in Early Islamic
Doctrine,” 16 th Annual Middle East History and Theory Conference, University
of Chicago, May 12, 2001
“Aspects of the Creed of Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal: A study of
Anthropomorphism in Early Islamic Discourse,” 11 th Annual Students of Color
of Rackham Conference, University of Michigan, February 17, 2001
Rackham-Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) Seminar on
Preparing Future Faculty (PFF), May 2005

Teaching Experience
Positions Held
Instructor, Contemporary Issues in Islam, University of Toledo, Department
of Philosophy, Spring 2009
Instructor, Introduction to Islam, University of Toledo, Department of
Philosophy, Fall 2008
Graduate Student Instructor, Introduction to Arab Culture, University of
Michigan, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Winter 2008
Graduate Student Instructor, Introduction to World Religions, University of
Michigan, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Fall 2006
Graduate Student Instructor, Introduction to Arab Culture, University of
Michigan, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Winter 2006
Instructor, The Other God: Alternative Conceptions of the Divine in Jewish,
Christian, and Muslim Tradition, University of Michigan, Department of
Near Eastern Studies, Spring 2005
Instructor, The Other God: Alternative Conceptions of the Divine in Jewish,
Christian, and Muslim Tradition, University of Michigan, Department of
Near Eastern Studies, Spring 2004
Graduate Student Instructor, Introduction to World Religions, University of
Michigan, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Fall 2003
Instructor, Orthodoxy and Heresy: Locating the Boundaries of Theological
Tolerance in Islam, University of Michigan, Department of Near Eastern
Studies, Spring 2003
Graduate Student Instructor, African American Religion: Between
Christianity and Islam, University of Michigan, Department of Near
Eastern Studies, Winter-Fall 2002
Assistant to the Editor, The International Journal of Middle East Studies,
Ann Arbor Michigan, June 2002-June 2004
Editor, Department of Near Eastern Studies News Letter, Department of
Near Eastern Studies, University of Michigan, Fall 2001, Fall 2003
Research Interests
Languages
Islamic Studies, Hebrew Bible, Israelite Religion, Second Temple Judaisms,
Jewish Mysticism, Comparative Religions, African-American Religions
Reading proficiency: Arabic, Biblical Hebrew, German, French