PRESENT POSITION
Hartford Seminary, Hartford, CT: Professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations, Founder and Director of Islamic Chaplaincy and Associate Editor of The Muslim World since 1998; appointed Director of the Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations in 2008.
EDUCATION
University of Chicago, Ph.D., Islamic Studies, 1999
University of Waterloo, B.A. (joint honors), Philosophy & Fine Arts, 1987
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Professor, Hartford Seminary, 1998-current.
Masters level courses taught include: Introduction to Islamic Law, Contemporary Islamic Ethics, Islamic Ritual and Family Law, The Life of the Prophet Muhammad, Early Islamic History, The Qur’an and its Place in Muslim Society, Current State of Hadith Studies, Readings in Arabic Texts, Readings in Islamic Theology, The Spirituality of Muslim women, Building Abrahamic Partnerships (co-taught).
Visiting Professor, Osgoode Law School, Toronto, Winter 2003
Legal Values: Introduction to Islamic Law
Peripatetic Lecturer, Nawawi Foundation (Chicago) Summer Study Tours:
“The Genius of Polynesian Islam,” Singapore, Java, Malaysia, 2005.
“In the Footsteps of the Ottomans,” Turkey, 2004.
“Rediscovering Muslim Spain,” Spain, 2003.
“Discovering Muslim China,” China, 2002.
Lecturer, Oriental Institute, the University of Chicago, 1997
Developed and taught course on “Early Islamic Culture” to Institute members.
Teaching Assistant, “Islamic Civilization,”
Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, the University of Chicago, 1995.
Teaching Assistant, “Elementary Arabic,”
Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, the University of Chicago, 1994-1995.
The Story of the Qur’an: Its History and Place in Muslim Life, (Blackwells, 2007).
A Believing Slave is Better than an Unbeliever: Status and Community in Early Islamic Society and Law, 1999 University of Chicago doctoral dissertation.
“Debating Form and Function in Muslim Women’s Leadership,” in Sisters: Women, Religion and Leadership in Christianity and Islam, ed. Scott Alexander (Sheed and Ward, forthcoming). A slightly different edition, entitled, “Can a Woman be an Imam: Debating Form and Function in Muslim Women’s Leadership” is available on the Hartford Seminary website: www.hartsem.edu.
“Women, Gender and Family Law: Early period 7th-late 18th centuries,” in Encyclopedia of Women in Islamic Cultures, v. 2 , ed. Suad Joseph (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2005).
“Adoption and Fostering,” in Encyclopedia of Women in Islamic Cultures, v. 2, ed. Suad Joseph (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2005).
“Stopping Oppression: an Islamic Obligation,” in September 11: Historical, Theological and Social Perspectives, eds. Ian Markham and Ibrahim Abu-Rabi’ (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2002).
“Mosques and Islamic Religious Organizations,” in The Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America, (Leiden: Brill, 2005).
“How Muslims use Islamic paradigms to define America,” in Religion and Immigration: Christian, Jewish and Muslim Experiences in the United States, eds. John L. Esposito, Yvonne Y. Haddad and Jane I. Smith (Altimira Press, 2003).
“Status-Based Definitions of Need in Early Islamic Zakat and Maintenance Laws,” in Concepts of Poverty and Charity in Middle Eastern Contexts, eds. Michael Bonner, Mine Ener and Amy Singer (SUNY Press, 2003): 31-51.
“Hunayn,” in The Encyclopedia of the Qur’an, ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Leiden: Brill, 2001).
“Manual Labor’” in The Encyclopedia of the Qur’an, ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Leiden: Brill, 2001).
“Forgiveness and Enemies—Qur’an 60:7-9,” in Peace Skills (Leaders Guide), eds. Alice Frazer Evans and Robert Evans with Ronald S. Kraybill (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001).
BOOK AND CONFERENCE REVIEW
Rebellion and Violence in Islamic Law by Khaled Abou El Fadl (Cambridge University Press, 2001); published in The Muslim World (Fall, 2005).
Review of al-Mawardi’s al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya (The Ordinances of Government) for The Journal of Law and Religion (Fall, 2001).
Review of Wilfred Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate in The Journal of Religion, April,1998.
Review of Yale Law School Conference, “Law, Culture and Human Rights: Islamic Perspectives in the Contemporary World,” in The American Journal of Islamic Social Science, 11/3 (Fall 1994): 446-450.
Review of the Yale University Conference, “Islamic Law and Religion,” in The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 10/4 (Winter 1993): 575-578.
GENERAL INTEREST AND WEB-PUBLISHED MATERIAL
"The Islamic View on Consumption and Material Development in Light of Environmental Pollution," in Islam, Christianity and the Environment, Mabda English Monograph Series no. 9 (Amman, Jordan: Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, 2011), 1-17<
NPR, Where We Live, January 2008 http://www.cpbn.org/?q=node/1082
“Discovering (not uncovering) the Spirituality of Muslim Women,” Zion’s Herald, July/August 2005: http://macdonald.hartsem.edu/spiritualityofmuslimwomen.pdf
“Eating in the Name of God,” published on website of the Macdonald Center for Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations, Hartford Seminary: http://macdonald.hartsem.edu/articles.htm#mattson.
“The Axis of Good: Muslims Building Alliances with other Communities of Faith,” published on the website of the Macdonald Center for Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations, Hartford Seminary: http://macdonald.hartsem.edu/articles.htm#mattson.
“Spain and Islam: a stormy history,” The Hartford Courant, March 21, 2004.
“Dignity and Patient Care: an Islamic Perspective,” in The Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine, published on the web-site July 17, 2002. http://info.med.yale.edu/intmed/hummed/yjhm/archives/spirit2003/dignity/imattson.htm
“Finding the Prophet in His People,” published December 18, 2002 on PBS web-site in conjunction with lauch of documentary, Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet http://www.pbs.org/muhammad/essays/mattson.html.
“Muhammad Still Worthy of Emulation without Visualization,” Dallas Morning News, November 9, 2002.
“Finding the Voice of Islam,” in From the Ashes: Spiritual Responses to the Attack on America, ed. by Beliefnet, Neale Donald Walsch and Desmond Mpilo Tutu (Rodale Press, 2001); another version of the article, “American Muslims’ Special Obligation,” in Taking Back Islam: American Muslims Reclaim Their Faith, eds. Michael Wolfe and the Producers of Beliefnet (Rodale Inc. and Beliefnet, 2002).
“Justice in Islam,” Hartford Courant, October 21, 2001.
“Islamic Law is Not the Monolithic Thing that Many Imagine,” Dallas Morning News, November 17, 2001.
SELECTED SCHOLARLY PRESENTATIONS
“Knowing and Not-Knowing: the Psycho-Spiritual State of the Muslim Ethicist,” Pennsylvania State University, December, 2006.
“Heaven’s Gate: How Muslim Women Open or Close Doors for their Sisters,” St. Xavier University, Chicago, November, 2006.
“Exploring the Dynamics of Militant Extremism,” NORAD-USNORTHCOM conference, Colorado Springs, CO, February, 2005.
"Representing Orthodoxy: Muslim Chaplains and Expert Witnesses at the intersection of Political and Religious authority," Russell Lecture, Tufts University, March, 2005.
“Creativity and Ijtihad,” at the United States Institute of Peace, Washington, DC, March, 2004.
“The Risks and Benefits of Resorting to ‘Necessity’ in Islamic Jurisprudence,” 2003 Or Emet lecture, Osgoode Law School, York University, Toronto, Canada, January 27, 2003.]\
“Muslim Women and Islamic Law: Possibilities, Limits and Challenges,” William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, April 10, 2002.
“The Best of Intentions: the Politics of Foreign Aid for Afghan Women Refugees,” University of Illinois at Chicago, March 8, 2002.
“Gender and Authority in Islam,” Depauw University, Indiana, October 11, 2001.
“Al-Ma`ruf: Revelation’s Sanction of Customary Standards,” paper presented at the Middle East Studies Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, November, 2000.
“Issues for Muslim Women,” lecture at the University of Westminster, London, conference on “Islamism, Pluralism and Civil Society,” April, 1999 (transcript published in Islam 21).
“Between al-Shafi`i and Abu Dharr: Islamic Law and Ethics on the Status of Slaves,” lecture at the Harvard Law School, workshop on “Egalitarianism and Islamic Law,” April, 1999.
“Slave Mothers: The Process of the Legal Recognition of the Status of the Umm Walad in Early Islamic Society,” paper presented at the Chicago Humanities Institute, 1997.
“Islamic Calligraphy: Sacrality and Identity,” lecture at the Chicago Cultural Institute, 1997.
“What ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab Ate (Symbolic Poverty in Early Islamic Society),” paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, 1996.
“The Sufriyya in History and Heresiography,” paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, 1994.
COMMUNITY SERVICE AND RELATED EXPERIENCE
ACADEMIC AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS
Chicago Humanities Institute, Sawyer Seminar on Religion, Law and the Construction of Identities, Graduate Fellowship, 1996-1997
Milners America Scholarship, 1995-1996
American Association of University Women, International Fellowship, 1993-1994
University of Chicago Century Scholarship, 1989-1992
University of Waterloo, Dean’s List, 1987
University of Waterloo, Art History Essay Award, 1986
University of Waterloo, French Department, Prix d’excellence, 1985
LANGUAGES
Arabic: excellent reading knowledge; good speaking ability.
French: excellent reading knowledge; fair speaking ability.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Middle East Studies Association
American Academy of Religion
Middle East Medievalist
