160817P - MISSION, VISION, and ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

Presentation by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr. at the Symposium on Thought and Knowledge Maldives 18-21 August 2016.

CONTENTS

• About the Institute
• The Research program
• The teaching program

DEFINITIONS OF TERMS

• Thought refers to the process of thinking as well as the crystallization of this process in the form of ideas, world-views and ideologies. 
• Knowledge refers to a range of cognitive processes, including perception, information and empirical facts as well as their analysis and interpretation. Knowledge is acquired through multiple sources, including sense perception and observation, reasoning, learning and education, discovery, experimentation, self-introspection, intuition and revelation. 
• Epistemology is concerned with the nature, structure, sources and purpose of knowledge. Epistemological premises and postulates are embedded in the social and existential context and have normative underpinnings. 
• Education refers to the process of formal learning and instruction, generally in an institutional setting, through which a society transmits knowledge, ideas, beliefs, worldview, values, skills and cultural traditions from generation to generation.

THE INSTITUTE’S IDENTITY

• The Institute is an independent intellectual, academic, non-political, non-partisan, non-sectarian organization, with the vision of thought, epistemological, and educational reform as a basis for balanced, moderate, and sustainable societal progress. 
• The Institute considers itself both a forum and a school. As a forum it engages in discussion and exchange of diverse approaches to thought and knowledge reform. As an institute of thought it extends beyond being an organization to being an association of intellectual thinkers, with its own scholarly approach based on space-time reading of the revelation, objective analysis of human intellectual heritage, and development of an integrated epistemology. 
• The Institute is academic and intellectual in nature. As such, it works with, and through, research and educational institutions such as universities and centers of higher learning.

INSTITUTE VISION and MISSION

• Our vision is to be the most effective, impactful, private, non-profit, academic, cultural and educational institution, successfully contributing to reform of Islamic thought, epistemology and education, and leading to identification of new approaches, methodologies and practical applications that are beneficial to humanity.  
• Our mission is to effectively reform Islamic thought through the study of revelation and human thought; to realize appropriate epistemological reform through research on existing philosophies and methodologies; and to effect curricular and educational reform through a broad evaluation of current educational systems, all in ways that lead to integration and synthesis of knowledge.

INSTITUTE Priorities 

1. Muslim Thought reform through the study of revelation and human thought leading to integration and synthesis of knowledge.
2. Epistemological reform through research on philosophy, paradigms and methodology, leading to reform of disciplines of knowledge and integration of knowledge.
3. Curricular and Educational reform through evaluation and reassessment of Islamic and conventional educational systems, leading to holistic, integrated and effective educational models.

INSTITUTE PROGRAMS

1. Research
2. Teaching
3. Translation
4. Publication

THE RESEARCH PROGRAM VISION, MISSION, and STRUCTURE

• Our vision is to be a leading international research program conducting world-class high-level research that contributes to intellectual development in the priority areas of reform of thought, knowledge, and education, as well as their practical applications, thus producing new knowledge and providing new understanding of existing knowledge, in adherence to the principles established by our founders.
• Our mission is to focus on and develop research as the Institute’s main activity, and to ensure that research and publication activities are perfectly aligned such that most of Institute’s publications are based on its own research, both in the academic field and in policy areas.
• The Institute’s research program is carried out in three areas: (a) academic research, (b) policy research, and (c) academic outreach, within the parameters of strategic (long term), and operational (short and medium term) research plans.

RESEARCH PROGRAM: Scope/Objectives 1

• Theoretical vs. Empirical: Research Departments strive to clarify, update, and – as necessary – amend the existing balance between theoretical methodological approaches and empirical research approaches, studying the suitability and feasibility of transition from the present concern with conceptual aspects of Islamic thought to supporting research in human and social sciences. Research Departments seeks practical implications and application of thought and knowledge concepts in society.
• Defining Concepts: Research Departments identify and define guiding concepts and values for the research program such as: tawhid, tazkiyah, ‘umran, ummah, etc., developing pragmatic and systematic definitions of (i) reform of thought (ii) reform of knowledge/epistemology, and (iii) other concepts and paradigms related to thought and knowledge 

RESEARCH PROGRAM: Scope/Objectives 2

• Methodology and Themes: Research Departments review, analyze, and rebuild the principles of Islamic methodology and subsequently develop methodology for dealing with the basic sources, the Islamic heritage, and human heritage. They formulate research themes and research questions related to (a) the concept of integration of knowledge (IOK) as the final pathway for epistemological, knowledge, and educational reform, and (b) the four components of thought - Qur’an, Sunnah, Islamic heritage, and Western heritage.
• Programs: Research Departments design research programs and solicit proposals for publications, conference papers, and lecture series in the following fields: (i) Development of Islamic models in contemporary disciplines (ii) selected publication of Islamic traditional texts (iii) interpretation and treatment of Qur’an and Sunnah, unifying revelation and reason as well as thought and action, and (iv) critical evaluation of Western thought.

RESEARCH ON THOUGHT 1

1. Developing a methodological framework for the study of the Quran and Sunnah in a historical and social context and in the framework of Islamic hermeneutics.
2. Documenting and highlighting the legacy of Islamic civilization and its resonance in current academic research, in the global context as well as in the context of particular societies such as African nations, India and European societies, with the aim of deriving lessons to guide society today. 

RESEARCH ON THOUGHT 2

1. Critical review of Islamic civilization’s encounter with the West, as reflected in the representation of Islam and Muslims in the academic, intellectual and political discourses in the West, in the colonization of vast Muslim territories in Asia and Africa by the European powers, and in the pervasive impact of European intellectual and cultural heritage, Western modernity and globalization on Muslim societies and on Muslim intellectual and political elites.
2. Developing the concept of excellence in its theoretical and practical dimensions.

RESEARCH ON KNOWLEDGE 1

1. Developing a systematic critique of the epistemological premises and presuppositions of the social sciences and the humanities from a historical and comparative perspective and in the light of recent researches and discourses in the social sciences, and developing an alternative Islamic epistemology reflecting the Integration of Knowledge (IOK) paradigm.
2. Social sciences - followed by natural sciences and then by applied sciences and technology - as the first priority in IOK research, with priorities set within each discipline, and both theoretical and practical research undertaken in economics and political thought.

RESEARCH ON KNOWLEDGE 2

1. Maqasid al shari’ah and their reinterpretation in terms of the contemporary discourses in sociology, law, psychology and human rights, with a view to highlighting their relevance in the present context. 
2. Fiqh al aqalliyaat al-Muslimin in a historical, legal and comparative perspective, taking into account the fact that more than three-fourths of Muslim minorities are concentrated in non-Western countries.
3. Reorientation and reform of pedagogy and education in the framework of Islamic epistemology, as the ultimate goal of epistemological reform. 

THE TEACHING PROGRAM: Vision, Mission, and organization

• Our vision is to be an instrument of change that offers correct and updated knowledge, and true and realistic understanding, of thought and its underlying beliefs and sources, that can meet the challenges arising out of rapid political, economic, educational, cultural, and intellectual changes.
• Our mission is to disseminate the Institute’s ideas through teaching programs on thought and epistemology, based on the output of the Institute’s research on thought, epistemology, and education, and to encourage further research on these themes.
• The work of the Teaching Division is organized and managed through four departments conducting five types of programs: a) University Teaching Programs, grouped under (i) horizontally integrated programs or (ii) vertically integrated programs, b) Summer/Winter Schools, c) Student Scholarships and Fellowships, and d) Academic Exchange. 

TEACHING PROGRAM: Scope/Objectives 1

• Horizontal integration with university programs is achieved by offering modules or courses within existing study programs in collaborating institutions. Existing course outlines/descriptions are rewritten to include an epistemological introduction and addition of IOK material. The IOK content is based on Institute and others’ publication in this area. Teaching material based on the modified course outlines is written by lecturers and published by the Institute.
• Vertical integration with university programs is achieved by offering freestanding academic programs at the certificate, diploma, bachelors, masters and doctoral levels. The programs consist of various courses approved, monitored, and accredited by a collaborating university. The Institute and the collaborating university jointly write the program specifications and course descriptions. The collaborating university awards the academic degree, in addition to the certificate awarded by the Institute. 

TEACHING PROGRAM: Scope/Objectives 2

• Summer Schools or Winter Schools are organized annually in various parts of the world to train students from various universities in thought and epistemological research. Limited to students with interest in doing their doctoral research on thought and knowledge, these programs include theoretical lectures as well as practical training in research methodology. 
• Academic Exchange: partial funding is made available to support visiting professors on sabbatical leave to undertake research or teach courses on thought, epistemology, and education at other institutions. 
• Full or partial student scholarships and fellowships are awarded at collaborating universities at the masters and doctoral levels to enable students to write dissertations related to thought and epistemology.