Religion, Heritage, and Identity in Tanzania’s Omani-Ibadi Community

Name: Religion, Heritage, and Identity in Tanzania’s Omani-Ibadi Community
Start: 2025-11-03T12:00:00-06:00
Location: Ingraham Hall, Room 206, Madison, WI 53706, United States

Schedule

Mon, 03 Nov, 2025 at 12:00 pm

UTC-06:00

Location

Ingraham Hall, Room 206, Madison, WI 53706, United States | Madison, WI

Dr. Kimberly Wortmann is an assistant professor in the Department for the Study of Religions, and she is a faculty member of the African Studies (AFS) and Middle East and South Asia Studies (MESA) programs at Wake Forest University.
As a scholar trained in Islamic and African Studies, she is interested in transregional networks of knowledge exchange, transmission, and production between East Africa and the Persian Gulf. Her current research focuses on networks of Islamic schools and charities in Zanzibar, Tanzania, and Oman run by Ibadhis, a Muslim minority community. Wortmann’s research relies extensively on Swahili and Arabic and she has lived and studied in Uganda, Yemen, and Kenya.
Wortmann is currently working on a book manuscript tentatively titled "Society of the Righteous: Transnational Ibadhi Muslim Networks and Educational Reform in East Africa". She has recently published “Daʻwa at the Sultan’s Mosque: An Example of Ibādī Women’s Activism in Muscat,” in Local and Global Ibadi Identities.
This event is free and open to the public.
A vegetarian Middle Eastern lunch will be provided.