Richard McGregor
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies

B.A. University of Toronto
M.A. and Ph.D. McGill University

Professor McGregor's area of expertise is Islam, particularly the medieval intellectual and mystical traditions. He teaches courses on Qur'an and Interpretation, Sufism, and Methodology in the Study of Religion. Before coming to Vanderbilt University in 2003, professor McGregor spent two years in Cairo, Egypt, at the Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale working on Arabic manuscripts. His recently published book, Sanctity and Mysticism in Medieval Egypt: the Wafa Sufi Order and the Legacy of Ibn Arabi (SUNY, 2004) looks at the construction and theory of "sainthood" in Islam. His next major project is a study of aesthetics in the Islamic mystical tradition.

Forthcoming publications include:
*The Development of Sufism in Egypt of the Mamluk Period (editor with Adam Sabra)
*Gems of Gnosis from the Breath of the Merciful, by Muhammad Wafa (d. 1363) -- a critical Arabic edition with English translation.

Recent articles:
"Akbarian Thought in a Branch of the Egyptian Shadhiliyya" to appear in Une école spirituelle soufi dans le monde: la Shadhiliyya E. Geoffroy ed.
"The Existential Dimension of the Spiritual Guide in the Thought of Ali Wafa (d. 1404)" Annales Islamologiques 37 (2003)
"New Sources for the Study of Sufism in Mamluk Egypt" Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 65,2 (2002)