Emily Silkaitis

Emily Silkaitis specializes in the early history of Islam, with focus on Islamic thought, cultural history, and Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir). Her current research project investigates the history of suicide in Muslim societies. Using a wide range of early Islamic literary sources alongside normative texts, Silkaitis' dissertation attempts a comprehensive study of suicide in Islam (both in theory and in practice) in the Islamic Middle East and North Africa from the time of the Prophet Muhammad to the end of the twelfth century. Silkaitis completed her undergraduate studies in History at the College of DuPage (AA) and the University of Richmond (BA), and has a master's in Middle East Studies from the University of Chicago. She is currently completing her doctoral degree at Princeton University in the Department of Religion.