In this episode of History Speaks, Dr. Roshan Iqbal speaks with Dr. Santiago Slabodsky, who holds the Florence and Robert Kaufman Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies and directs the Jewish Studies program at Hofstra University. Drawing on his award-winning book Decolonial Judaism: Triumphal Failures of Barbaric Thinking, Dr. Slabodsky explores the erasure of the Judeo-Islamic tradition and the invention of the “Judeo-Christian” West. Together, they discuss how colonialism, epistemic dominance, and modernity have shaped the way we understand history, power, and religion. The conversation invites us to reconsider what was lost with the disappearance of the Judeo-Islamic world — and what might be recovered when we imagine history beyond Europe’s frame.
Santiago Slabodsky is a sociologist of knowledge who holds the Florence and Robert Kaufman Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies and directs the interdisciplinary Jewish Studies (JWST) program in the Department of Religion. He is also an affiliate faculty member in the programs of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, European Studies, Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, and Public Policy and Pub
lic Service. Previously, he served as the convener of the graduate program in Religion, Ethics, and Society, as well as a professor of Global Ethics at the Claremont Consortium in California. In addition to his permanent academic positions in the U.S., he has held concurrent visiting positions in the Netherlands, Costa Rica, North Macedonia, Canada, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Turkey, and South Africa.
Dr. Slabodsky’s research, mentorship, and teaching have earned him numerous accolades, including the Frantz Fanon Outstanding Book Award from the Caribbean Philosophical Association for his book Decolonial Judaism: Triumphal Failures of Barbaric Thinking, the Fisher Mentor Award from the Claremont School of Theology, and the Exemplary Annual Teaching Award from the General Board of Education of UMC institutions. Currently, he serves in several leading scholarly roles, including founding co-director of the journal Decolonial Horizons in South America, associate editor of the journal ReOrient in the UK, and co-chair of the Religions, Social Conflict, and Peace Studies unit at the American Academy of Religion.
Dr. Roshan Iqbal hails from a small hamlet of 20 million–Karachi, Pakistan. She received her PhD in Islamic Studies from Georgetown University. Prior to this she read for her MPhil at the University of Cambridge. She has studied in Pakistan, the US, Morocco, Egypt, Jordon, the UK, and Iran. Her research interests include gender and sexuality in the Qur’an, Islamic Law, Film and Me
dia Studies, and modern Muslim intellectuals. Her recent book is titled, ‘Marital and Sexual Ethics in Islamic Law: Rethinking Temporary Marriage.’ As an associate professor at Agnes Scott College, she teaches classes in the Religious Studies department and also classes that are cross-listed with Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Film Studies. When she is not working, she loves talking to her family and friends on the phone (thank you, unlimited plans), tracking fashion (sartorial flourishes are such fun), watching films (love! love! love!), reading novels (never enough), painting watercolors (less and less poorly), and cooking new dishes (sometimes successfully).
