Ossama Abdelgawwad, M.A., Ph.D.

About

Biography

Ossama A. S. Abdelgawwad, M.A., Ph.D., is an associate professor of religious studies at Valparaiso University, where he has taught since 2018. A Fulbright Scholar, Professor Abdelgawwad brings a global and student-centered perspective to the classroom. He teaches a range of engaging courses on Islamic religion and culture, world religions, religion and society, comparative Quranic studies, and other topics in Abrahamic religions that explore the intersections of faith, culture, ethics, and society. His classes emphasize comparative and critical thinking, and inclusive inquiry, inviting students to reflect on big questions about life, justice, identity, and meaning in a diverse world. In 2023, Professor Abdelgawwad received a Valpo general education grant to develop and teach a new Valparaiso University Experience (VUE) 101 course on bioethics. In 2024, he was awarded an Interfaith America grant to co-develop and co-teach a VUE 101 course on civic pluralism with Professor Amanda Brobst-Renaud, M.Div., Ph.D. Professor Abdelgawwad was also selected as a 2025 Life Worth Living Faculty Fellow at Yale University, where he is developing a course that invites students to explore moral frameworks and existential meaning across faith and secular traditions.

Professor Abdelgawwad’s academic interests focus on hermeneutics, the intersection of law and religion, Islamic biographical writing, ethics, interfaith dialogue, and comparative religious studies. His publications include peer-reviewed essays and book chapters on figures such as Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh Drāz and topics like prophetic tradition, medieval Islamic biography, and virtual pedagogy in religious studies. His forthcoming book, “Questioning Hermeneutics and Intellectual History in Medieval Islam,” will be published by Routledge in 2026. In addition to his scholarship, he directs the Rifai Institute for Interfaith and Intercultural Initiatives at Valpo, where he fosters campus-wide engagement with interreligious understanding through public events and experiential learning. Through both his scholarship and teaching, Professor Abdelgawwad is committed to cultivating spaces where students can engage deeply with diverse traditions, seek meaning, and contribute thoughtfully to their communities.

Education:

Ph.D., Religious Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
August 2018

M.A., Religious Studies, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
December 2015

M.A., Islamic Studies, School of Languages and Translation, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
April 2010

Publications:

Abdelgawwad, Ossama A. S. “Ḥalal and Ṭayyib: Exploring the Dimensions of Permissible and Pure Food in Contemporary Islamic Dietary Practice.” In Handbook on Religion and Food, edited by Yudit Greenberg and Ben Zeller. London: Bloomsbury, forthcoming 2025.

Abdelgawwad, Ossama A. S. “The Networks and Text Reuse in the Shāfiʿī Biographical Writings of the Mamluk Era.” In Networks Through Biography [LECTIO Series], edited by Geert Roskam, Arjan Post, Stefan Schorn, Joseph Verheyden, and Pietro Zaccaria. Turnhout: Brepols, forthcoming 2025.

Abdelgawwad, Ossama A. S. “An Egyptian Ethicist: Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh Drāz (1894-1958) and His Qurʾān-Based Moral Theory.” American Journal of Islam and Society 41, no. 2 (2024): 46–79. https://doi.org/10.35632/ajis.v41i2.3376.

Abdelgawwad, Ossama A. S. “The Ruse of Body Language among Muslim Traditionists.” In Handbook of Religion and the Body, edited by Yudit Greenberg and George Pati, 120–133. London: Routledge, 2023.

Abdelgawwad, Ossama A. S., and Mohamed A. Moustafa. “Ṣubḥī Qūnyāwī.” In Christian-Muslim Relations: A Bibliographical History, Volume 18, The Ottoman Empire (1800–1914), 628–635. Leiden: Brill, 2021.

Abdelgawwad, Ossama A. S. “Modifying Field Trips to a Virtual Experience.” In A Proven Practice: Reflections on Teaching Online (Part I). Accessed August 2020. https://rsn.aarweb.org/proven-practice-reflections-teaching-online-part-1#Virtual_field_trips_Abdelgawwad.

Abdelgawwad, Ossama A. S. Questioning Hermeneutics and Intellectual History in Medieval Islam. London: Routledge, forthcoming 2026.

Grants, Fellowships, and Scholarships

• Yale University, Life Worth Living Faculty Fellowship (2025-2027)
• Interfaith America, Civic Pluralism Curriculum Development Grant (2024/2025)
• Valparaiso University, Committee to Enhance Learning and Teaching (CELT) Travel Award (2024)
• Valparaiso University, College of Arts and Sciences Travel Award (2023 and 2019)
• Indiana University, College of Arts and Sciences Travel Award (2017)
• Indiana University, Dissertation Writing Fellowship (2016–2017)
• William J. Fulbright Doctoral Education Grant (2012 – 2015)

Select Courses:

• Exploring Values: Ethics Across Faiths and Convictions: The Pursuit of a Good Life (VUE 101)
• Exploring Values Civic Pluralism: Conversations Across Borders (VUE 101)
• Islam
• Quranic Studies
• Religion and Society
• Religious Studies Theories and Methods

Professional Associations

• American Academy of Religion (AAR)
  Steering Committee Member, Arts, Literature, and Religion Unit (2022–2029)
• Middle Eastern Studies Association (MESA)