Through a dual partnership with the Islamic Center of Muncie and the Center for Middletown Studies at Ball State, Dr. Elizabeth Agnew and her eleven students in the “Muslims in Muncie” seminar had the opportunity to immerse themselves in experiential and academic learning about Islam in America. They then applied what they learned through these partnerships—plus guest lectures, and site visits in Indianapolis and Washington, DC—to conduct twenty-two life-narrative oral history interviews and create a 50-minute film documenting the Islamic community of Muncie over a half century.
The students also created a 12-page booklet which gives a multi-perspective account of the seminar—from its earliest planning stages in spring 2016, through their scholarly and creative work, to the public showcase on April 30, 2017. Students transcribed each of their interviews, and the transcripts, oral history video-recordings, and documentary film will reside in the BSU Digital Media Repository (DMR). These materials constitute a new contribution to Middletown Studies and the first comprehensive research project on the Islamic community of Muncie. Over the course of sixteen weeks, the seminar created sustained opportunity for conversation, observation, and participation with Muslims in the local community, and more widely across the state and country.
The depth of learning and the personal life stories revealed in the oral history interviews were transformational for the students and for our partners.
View Muslims in Muncie on YouTube.