Emilia Justina Powell, Notre Dame Professor of Political Science and Adjunct Professor of Law School Emilia Justina Powell has won two International Studies Association (ISA) awards for her 2020 book . Islamic and International Law: Peaceful Resolution of Conflicts.

Powell’s 314-page book was awarded the ISA’s 2022 Book of International Law Award for its originality, importance and rigor in international law, and for its outstanding contribution to the field. He also received the ISA Religious and International Relations Book Award for the same qualities and contributions to religion and international relations.

“I couldn’t believe I won two,” Powell said of her book. The book has been positively reviewed by her nearly 30 institutions and organizations in 15 countries, including the Islamic Studies Center of the Iranian Parliament. “It shows that people are open to hearing ideas.”

The book covers the differences and similarities between Islamic legal traditions and international law. The Center for Strategic & International Studies described the book as one of the most important books on Islam and international relations of the past two decades, saying it “provides important insights and knowledge that can only be ignored in our collective peril.” to do”.

She traveled extensively to interview judges, policy makers and religious leaders of Islamic culture for this book, which also includes nearly 60 years of original data on the domestic laws of countries of Islamic origin.

In the 29 Islamic law states, 900 million Muslims are ethically, morally, doctrinal, or politically committed to the Islamic jurisprudence tradition, a culture of justice based on non-confrontational dispute resolution. increase.

Some people in the United States, including journalists and academics, misunderstand Islamic law and perpetuate that misconception, Powell said.

After previous coverage of the book, she received threats and was falsely accused of trying to bring Islamic law into the United States. She sees first-hand how students grow as scholars each semester as they gain knowledge, insights and perspectives on Islamic law and other topics.

“The world will be more peaceful if we focus on the similarities between these systems,” she said.

This fall, Powell will share her research promoting mutual respect and understanding between Oman and the United States at the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center in Washington, DC.

Originally from Poland, he recently taught Notre Dame Cathedral’s three-week intensive Polish Summer Study Abroad Summer Course, International Law, and the Holocaust, which includes visits to death camps and museums.

Powell said the experience was inspiring for the students. It’s for her too. Her family, including her grandparents, experienced the horrors of Nazism firsthand. Her grandfather was a Polish officer and a prisoner of war. His weight at the time of his release he was 80 pounds.

This year, she said the state of the world provided an additional strong backdrop to the course. When students at Notre Dame learned about the atrocities committed by the Nazis against Poles during World War II, in real time, Poland’s neighbor Russia turned against another neighbor Ukraine. was fighting a war.

Powell, who spends an hour every day improving his Arabic, is currently working on his next book on the peaceful resolution of territorial and maritime disputes between nations.

“My studies take me to so many places, such as Oman, Kuwait, Algeria, all of which I have been treated to incredible hospitality,” she said. rice field.

original author Beth Staples and al.nd.edu upon September 7, 2022.