John Esposito
Esposito, c. 1983
Born	John Louis Esposito (1940-05-19)May 19, 1940 (age 85) Brooklyn,New York City, U.S.
Employer	Georgetown University

John Louis Esposito (born May 19, 1940) is an Americanacademic,professor ofMiddle Eastern andreligious studies, andscholar ofIslamic studies,^[1] who serves as Professor of Religion, International Affairs, and Islamic Studies atGeorgetown University inWashington, D.C. He is also the founding director of thePrince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding at Georgetown.

For nearly twenty years after completing hisPh.D., John Esposito had taughtreligious studies (includingHinduism,Buddhism, andIslam) at theCollege of the Holy Cross, aJesuit college inMassachusetts. At the College of the Holy Cross, he held the Loyola Professor of Middle East Studies position, was the chair of the Department of Religious Studies, and director of the College of the Holy Cross's Center for International Studies.^[2] AtGeorgetown University, Esposito holds the position of University Professor and teaches as both Professor of Religion and International Affairs and Professor of Islamic Studies.^[3]

Esposito completed his doctoral studies under the supervision of the influential Islamic scholar Isma'il Raji al-Faruqi.^[4] Esposito publishedIslam and Politics in 1984, andIslam: The Straight Path in 1988. Both books sold well, going through many editions. In addition to more than 35 books, he is editor-in-chief of a number of Oxford reference works, includingThe Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World,The Oxford History of Islam,The Oxford Dictionary of Islam,The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World (six vols), andOxford Islamic Studies Online.^[2]

In 1988, he was elected president of theMiddle East Studies Association of North America (MESA). He has also served as president of the American Academy of Religion and president of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies. He served as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy from 1999 to 2004 he was a member of the World Economic Forum's Council of 100 Leaders, the High Level Group of the U.N.Alliance of Civilizations and the E. C. European Network of Experts on De-Radicalisation. He was an advisor to the award-winning,PBS-broadcast documentaryMuhammad: Legacy of a Prophet (2002), produced byUnity Productions Foundation. A recipient of the American Academy of Religion's 2005 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion and of Pakistan's Quaid-e-Azam Award for Outstanding Contributions in Islamic Studies, in 2003 he received the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University Award for Outstanding Teaching.^[2]

Esposito founded the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in 1993 and is its founding director. The center received a $20 million endowment from Saudi Arabian PrinceAlwaleed Bin Talal "to advance education in the fields ofIslamic civilization andMuslim-Christian understanding and strengthen its presence as a world leader in facilitating cross-cultural and inter-religious dialogue."^[5]

Esposito is a Catholic.^[6]

Selected works as author, co-author, or editor, include titles listed below.

• The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, as editor (1994),ISBN 0-19-512559-2
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, as editor (1995, 4-volume set),ISBN 0-19-506613-8
• The Islamic World: Past and Present, as editor (2004, 3-volume set),ISBN 0-19-516520-9
• The Oxford History of Islam, as editor (2004),ISBN 0-19-510799-3
• The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World, as editor (2009, 5-volume set),ISBN 978-0-19-530513-5

• Political Islam: Radicalism, Revolution or Reform (1997),ISBN 1-55587-168-2
• The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? (3rd edition: 1999),ISBN 0-19-513076-6
• Makers of Contemporary Islam, co-authored John Voll (2001),ISBN 0-19-514128-8
• Women in Muslim Family Law, co-authored withNatana J. Delong-Bas (2nd edition: 2002)ISBN 0-8156-2908-7
• Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam (2002),ISBN 0-19-515435-5
• Islam: The Straight Path (1st edition: 1988, 3rd edition: 2004),ISBN 0-19-518266-9
• The Future of Islam (2010),ISBN 0-19-516521-7
• What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam (1st edition: 2002. 2nd edition: 2011),ISBN 978-0-19-979413-3
• Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think, co-authored withDalia Mogahed (2008),ISBN 978-1-59562-017-0^[7]

This section may include written or editorial contributions to collections of works by various scholars.

• Voices of Resurgent Islam, as editor (1983),ISBN 0-19-503340-X
• Islam and Democracy, as co-editor with John Voll (1996),ISBN 0-19-510816-7
• Islam and Politics, as editor (1st edition: 1984, 4th edition: 1998),ISBN 0-8156-2774-2
• Islam, Gender and Social Change, as co-editor withYvonne Yazbeck Haddad (1997),ISBN 0-19-511357-8
• Muslims on the Americanization Path?, as co-editor with Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (2000),ISBN 0-19-513526-1
• Iran at the Crossroads, as co-editor with R. K. Ramazani (2000),ISBN 0-312-23816-9
• Modernizing Islam: Religion in the Public Sphere in the Middle East and Europe, as co-editor withFrancois Burgat (2003),ISBN 0-8135-3198-5
• Turkish Islam and the Secular State: The Gulen Movement, as co-editor with M. Hakan Yavuz (2003),ISBN 0-8156-3040-9
• Islam in Asia: Religion, Politics, & Society, as editor (2006),ISBN 0-19-504082-1
• Islamophobia: The Challenge of Pluralism in the 21st Century as co-editor withIbrahim Kalin (2011),ISBN 978-0-19-975364-2

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• John L. Esposito - The Future of Islam lecture at the University of Kentucky

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