After 9/11, American Muslims have faced increased pressure to demonstrate the compatibility of Islam and American culture. Focusing on suburban Chicago, this lecture shows how some Muslim communities have embraced leisure activities, such as playing football or apple-picking, as essential for smoothing the pathway for Islam’s acceptance in the American religious landscape and as vital for the construction of an American Islam that transcends ethnic and racial divisions.

This talk explores how consumer practices, especially those perceived as generating “spirituality” and cultural “comfort”— have become resonant in our contemporary political moment.

The event will be held Friday, Feb. 2, from 12:45 to 2 p.m. in the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women (Tinkham Veale University Center, Suite 248).

“All-American Islam: Leisure and Parenting in Suburban Chicago”