In the context of the intensified levels of violence and cases of genocide directed at Muslims and the demonization of Islam as a “non-Western” religion, the International Islamophobia Studies Research Association’s (IISRA) vision is to form the global architecture for the field of Islamophobia Studies. In the Islamic tradition, the Arabic acronym for this academic association refers to a nocturnal journey leading to knowledge and spiritual insight known as ‘Isra.’ As an interdisciplinary scholarly network, IISRA draws on this meaning in the development of a ‘global caravan’ dedicated to mobilizing academic knowledge that documents and challenges Islamophobia on a planetary scale.

The inaugural conference will be an important step toward actualizing IISRA’s mission to support the dissemination of academic research and publicly engaged scholarship on Islamophobia through academic fora that will facilitate the transnational, multidirectional flow of knowledge across academia, policy and government, media, and global civil society. By engaging in knowledge mobilization activities—such as networking, disseminating, exchanging, and supporting research-based knowledge, IISRA will provide the hub for academic leadership in the field of Islamophobia Studies.