John P. Turner

Assistant Professor of History

Department: History

Contact

Office: Miller Library 255

Phone: 207-859-5333

Fax: 859-5340

Email: jpturner@colby.edu

Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Mailing Address

5333 Mayflower Hill

Waterville, Maine 04901-8853

Semester Schedule

Education

Ph.D. – The University of Michigan, 2001
M.A. – The University of Michigan, 1996
B.A. – Furman University, 1993

Areas of Expertise

Islam
Premodern Islamic History
Modern Middle East History
Islamic Law (development of Hanbali school)
Iran

Professional Information

John researches, writes and teaches about Islamic history.  His research focuses on the interaction of political and religious authority.  He is keenly interested in understanding groups and group behavior, and particularly the categorization and exclusion of heresy and heretics.  His current research is focused on the early development of the Hanbali school of legal thought, used in current day Saudi Arabia.  He is also interested in the role of the 8th-1-th century Caliph and the Caliphate in the definition of what it means to be a Muslim.  In addition to his primary field, as a graduate student he sutided modern history with a focus on Syria and Iran, where he also studied Arabic (in Damascus) and Persian (in Tehran).  His courses range from surveys of the premodern and modern periods in the middle east to country speicific courses, and he covers eras from the foundations of Islam to the current day.  John is also Associate Director of the Goldfarb Center where he is responsible for the grants program and the Cotter Debates series.

Courses Currently Teaching 2011-2012

Other Courses Taught