Aga Khan University - ISMC

Based in London, the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) aims to strengthen research and teaching about the heritage of Muslim societies, giving specific attention to the challenges these societies face in contemporary settings. The Institute seeks to provide a unique and multifaceted approach to the study of Muslim cultures and societies by placing the study of Muslim civilisations within a framework of the humanities and social sciences, allowing for a wider analytical and comparative perspective. To this end, the Institute examines systems of moral and ethical thought, structures of governance and public life, artistic and creative expressions.

Chartered in 1983 as a private international university, Aga Khan University (AKU) is a self-governing institution currently operating in eight countries. The University is part of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), a group of private international development agencies working to improve living conditions and opportunities in the developing world through social, economic and cultural development. Like all Network institutions, the University is non-denominational and admission to its academic programmes is based strictly on merit. With 11 teaching sites spread over eight countries - Afghanistan, Kenya, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Syria, Egypt and the United Kingdom, AKU serves as an agent of change: developing skills and providing career advancement opportunities through programmes offered by its Medical College, School of Nursing, teaching hospitals, Institute for Educational Development and Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations. Future plans for AKU include an Institute of Human Development and a Faculty of Arts and Sciences with a curriculum based on a liberal arts model of undergraduate and postgraduate education.

In their focus on Muslim societies, the Institute's programmes take account of the diversity of cultures where Muslims were, and are, a significant constituency.  The approach to the study of Muslim civilisations is within a framework of world cultures, allowing for a wider analytical and comparative perspective.  This approach entails studying the context of cultural and intellectual history within which religious ideas and practices have meaning. It requires that cultural manifestations such as art, poetry and architecture be examined alongside doctrine, law and religious practice.  The Institute endeavours to understand the character of Muslim civilisations as they have evolved over time, and also to focus on the complex social, cultural and historical processes that they are undergoing in the contemporary world.  AKU-ISMC will seek to address fundamental challenges to the human condition today, including, amongst others, the issues of poverty and governance. This seamless integration of the study of history and current concerns is an enterprise with philosophical and educational significance and one that may help individuals and societies find meaning and purpose in the traditions that surround them and in the many different worlds they inhabit.

The Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations is accredited by the British Accreditation Council.