Harvard Law School has announced the launch of a series of paid fellowships for research on issues of Islamic law during the 2017-2018 academic year, aimed at influencing public discourse and U.S. policy on Sharia.
According to a recent email sent by the director of Harvard’s Islamic Legal Studies Program, Intisar Rabb, the launch of the new program comes “just in time” for the beginning of the Trump administration and has the goal of “building a community of Islamic law scholars in the academy” as well as informing “policy and media discourse about Islamic law.”

Fellows will receive a stipend of up to $5,000 per month and are expected to promote the development of policy papers “at the intersection of Islamic law and relevant issues of U.S. policy.” These policy papers will include short commentary on recent cases or other Islamic law sources, longer policy briefs, or op-eds, according to the law school website.