Scholarly Work · Citations & Lectures
Peer-reviewed scholarship, the original MA thesis, and citation information for researchers, educators, and journalists.
Primary Publication
The first study to directly ask American female converts to Islam what it means to feel Muslim: an IRB-approved mixed-methods survey with 459 participants and 400 complete quantitative responses, including 257 women who completed both strands in full, the largest study of this demographic to date.
Abstract
In contrast to studies of identity formation of converts to Islam that do not attempt to analyze experiences and acknowledge emotions within different stages of the conversion process, evidence from this mixed-methods study of American female converts to Islam reveals:
1) some converts distinguish between outwardly becoming/being Muslim at the time of conversion to Islam and feeling Muslim; 2) some of the key factors in the development of feelings of Muslimness, as identified by 257 U.S. female converts; 3) the greater the degree of key factors, the more rapidly the feelings of Muslimness develop, and the lesser the degree, the more slowly they develop, if at all; 4) additional significant issues related to feelings of Muslimness include the degree to which such feelings differ in public and private settings, and the extent to which they are esoterically and/or exoterically based; and 5) what feeling Muslim means to American female converts to Islam.
Index words: Feeling Muslim · Conversion studies · American female converts to Islam · U.S. female converts to Islam · Islam in America · American Muslims · African-American Muslims · Latina Muslims · Hispanic Muslims · Muslim Americans · Religious Conversion · Conversion to Islam · Conversion as transition · Identity formation · Identity cultivation · American Muslim communities · Unmosqued · Islamophobia
How to cite
APA (7th edition)
Evans, K. N. (2015). Feeling Muslim: Prolegomena to the study of American female converts to Islam [Master's thesis, University of Georgia]. UGA Electronic Theses and Dissertations. https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/evans_karla_n_201505_ma.pdf
MLA (9th edition)
Evans, Karla N. "Feeling Muslim: Prolegomena to the Study of American Female Converts to Islam." MA thesis, University of Georgia, 2015. https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/evans_karla_n_201505_ma.pdf
Chicago (17th edition)
Evans, Karla N. "Feeling Muslim: Prolegomena to the Study of American Female Converts to Islam." MA thesis, University of Georgia, 2015. https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/evans_karla_n_201505_ma.pdf
If you are using data, quotes, or findings from this study in your own research, please cite appropriately and consider reaching out. We welcome collaboration and would love to know how this research is being used.
Additional Publications
Turning Toward Islam and Why Feeling Muslim Matters
Foreword for Project Lina: Bringing Our Whole Selves to Islam by Dr. Tamara Gray & Najiyah Diana Maxfield · Daybreak Press · 2020
"The foreword could be a whole book within itself."
Aysha Fazil · Book review · Journal of Islamic Faith and Practice, vol. 5, no. 1
As American as Apple Pie: U.S. Female Converts to Islam
U.S. Studies Online · British Association for American Studies · July 22, 2015
★ #1 Most-Viewed Article · U.S. Studies Online / BAAS · 2015
usso.uk/research/as-american-as-apple-pie →A Letter to My Converted Sisters
AtlantaMuslim.com · Published as Karla Evans · October 31, 2016 · A pastoral letter to convert women on knowing their own worth, learning at their own pace, and recognizing manipulation in all its forms.
atlantamuslim.com/letter-to-my-converted-sisters →Media & Interviews
Muslim Parents on How They Talk to Their Children About Hatred and Extremism
Surveyed, interviewed & featured · December 15, 2015
nytimes.com →Muslims in Our Midst: Georgia, the Nation, Worry
Interviewed & featured · September 9, 2016
myajc.com →Top Dawgs on Campus: 10 Must-Have Instructors at UGA
Interviewed & featured · May 12, 2016
collegemagazine.com →Lectures & Presentations
Academic Lectures & Invited Talks
American & Muslim? Responses from U.S. Female Converts to Islam
Invited remote guest lecture for Dr. Deanna Womack's Global Religions: Women and Islam in America course · Candler School of Theology, Emory University / Georgia Institute of Technology · February 21, 2017
American Female Converts to Islam
Invited remote guest lecture for Ustadha Maryam Sharrieff's upper-level Islam in America course · Ribaat Academic Institute · November 29, 2016
Identity Formation in U.S. Female Converts to Islam: Practices that Nurture or Hinder Feelings of Muslimness
American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting · San Antonio, Texas · November 20, 2016
Beyond Fear: U.S. Female Converts to Islam
Invited guest lecture and research presentation for Dr. Michael Stoltzfus, Department of Religion · Georgia Gwinnett College · April 13, 2016
U.S. Female Converts to Islam: Practices that Hinder Feelings of Muslimness
American Academy of Religion Western Region · Arizona · April 2, 2016
Wearing Religion
Delivered with Dr. Carolyn Jones Medine · University of Georgia departmental panels · 2014
A Mother's Cry: My Post-9/11 Conversion Experiences
UGA 20th Annual Institute for Women's Studies Student Research Symposium · Georgia · 2013
Community Presentations & Workshops
Feeling Muslim in America: Converts, Youth, and Belonging in the American Masjid
Fox Valley Islamic Center · Neenah, Wisconsin · June 2026 (forthcoming)
Feeling Muslim in America: Converts, Youth, and Belonging in the American Masjid
Islamic Society of Wisconsin · Green Bay, Wisconsin · June 2026 (forthcoming)
Feeling Muslim and Why It Matters
Fox Valley Islamic Center · Neenah, Wisconsin · 2022
Feeling Muslim and Why It Matters
Rabata's Project Lina Workshop · 2021
American Women Embracing Islam and the Difficult Journey of Cultivating Identity in the Muslim Community
Masjid al-Qur'an · Wisconsin · March 12, 2017
American Women Embracing Islam and the Difficult Journey of Cultivating Identity in the Muslim Community
Metro-Atlanta Masajid Lecture Series · Delivered across multiple Islamic centers and masajid · Atlanta, Georgia · October 2016
Professional Service
Steering Committee · Religious Conversion Group · American Academy of Religion · 2016 to 2019
Appointed at the recommendation of Dr. Lewis Rambo, Research Professor of Psychology and Religion, San Francisco Theological Seminary.
In Progress
Forthcoming
The 2015 thesis explicitly describes itself as a prolegomena, a beginning, to a more extensive work currently in progress, providing a full in-depth analysis of the complete dataset: all 459 participants, the 400 complete quantitative responses, and the qualitative voices of the 257 women who completed both strands in full.
In Development
A peer-reviewed article drawing on the core findings of the 2014 study, targeted at journals in religious studies, Islamic studies, and American Muslim identity.
"Growth in grace is accomplished by slow degrees, and not per saltum... Why does the formation of an infant take nine months? Because God's method is to work by slow degrees."
Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī · Mathnawī · Book VI · tr. Reynold A. Nicholson