Dr. Kimberly Wortmann

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.

Wortmann received her PhD in The Study of Religion in 2018 from Harvard University, a Masters in Islamic Studies and African Religions from Harvard Divinity School in 2011, and a B.A. in Religious Studies from Macalester College in 2007. 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. Her research has been supported by WFU Archie Fund, Fulbright, Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and Harvard Frederick Sheldon Traveling Fellowship, among others.

Ph.D., Harvard University (Study of Religion)

M.A., Harvard Divinity School (Islamic Studies and African Religions)

B.A., Macalester College (Religious Studies)

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.

• Introduction to Islamic Traditions
• Social Justice in Islam
• Islam and Youth in Africa