Society of Scholars
The Society of Scholars is an intellectual community of humanists of diverse generations, academic ranks, and departmental affiliations who contribute to and learn from one another’s work. Each year, approximately eight faculty and three dissertation research fellowships support members of the Society of Scholars. Scholars in year-long residence at the University of Washington may be invited to participate as well. The group meets biweekly throughout the year to discuss their research in progress.
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2025 - 2026 Society of Scholars
2021 - 2022 Society of Scholars Fellow
Katia Chaterji (she/her/hers)
Katia’s dissertation explores the relationship between Islam and the performing arts in the making of regional Islamic histories in maritime Southeast Asia. Approaching performance as a meaningful site of Islamic cultural knowledge production and transmission, she engages with performing arts traditions associated with dakwah (Islamic proselytization) in Indonesia’s northwestern island of Sumatra. Her project discusses issues of permissibility of art within Islamic practice, gendered stewardship of intangible heritage, and individual agency in the formation of Malay Islamic cultural identity and understandings of Islamic history in Sumatra.