Fulera Issaka-Toure (PhD)

Education or Qualification:

• PhD (Islamic Studies), University of Bayreuth, Germany, 2013 - 2018
• M.Phil. (Study of Religions), University of Ghana, Ghana, 2006 – 2009
• MA (Social Science), University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2010-2012
• B.A. (Religions), University of Ghana, 2001 - 2005

Research interests:

• Gender, Islamic feminist discourses, Islamic law in modern states, Islam in Africa and modern Islam.

Academic Awards /Fellowships:

• Travel Grant from the International Club of the University of Bayreuth, November 2017.
• Conference Grant (for African Studies Association Conference 2017, Chicago) from the Equal Opportunity Department, University of Bayreuth.
• Conference Grant from the University of Amsterdam for workshop on Shia marriages, August 2017.
• Travel Grant (for African Studies Association Conference 2016, Washington) from Equal Opportunity Department, University of Bayreuth
• Scholarship for Female Doctoral Candidates from the Faculty of Language and Literature, University of Bayreuth, Germany, 2016.
• German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholarship holder from October 2013 to November 2018.
• Research Grant from the  German Research Foundation (DFG,) 2013-2018.
• Right Livelihood College Scholarship for Research on Human Rights in Africa and Asia, September 2016.
• Conference Grant, University of Tubingen, Germany, July 2014.
• University of Bayreuth Graduate School Conference Grant 2015-16.
• Ghana Education Trust Fund, 2013-2016
• National Research Foundation Bursary from the South African Government, 2010 to the year 2011, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Publications:

Book Chapters

• Issaka-Toure, Fulera, 2020. Interpretations of Jihad in Africa: A Historical Overview.
• In A Handbook of Islam in Africa, ed. F. Ngom, T. Falola and M. Kurfi, 77-92. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Issaka-Toure, Fulera, 2016a, Creating Communitas: Muslim Voices, Gendered Norms and Mediated Sacred Spaces in Ghana, In Religion and Space: Perspectives from African Experiences, Serawit Bekele Debele and Justice Anquandah Arthur (eds), Bayreuth African Studies Working papers, BIGSASworks 15, available on https://epub.uni-bayreuth.de/2743/3/BIGSASworks%2015_16.02.10-Final.pdf

Book Reviews

• Issaka-Toure, Fulera, 2018, Harmony O’Rourke’s Hadija’s Story: Diaspora, Gender and Belonging in the Cameroon Grassfields, Research Africa Reviews vol. 2., no. 2: 40-41.

Peer-review Journal Articles

• Issaka-Toure, Fulera, 2019. Women’s Views on Violence Against Wives in Muslim Marriages: Accra, Ghana, Praxis: Journal of Gender and Cultural Critique 27/1/2: pp. 23-39.
• Issaka-Toure, Fulera, 2016c, “Claiming Autonomy through Agency in a Patriarchal Structure: The Experiences of Muslim Women in Marital Relationships in Ghana”, HAWWA (BRILL): Journal of Women of the Middle East and the Islamic World, vol. 14:78-93.
• Issaka-Toure, Fulera, 2016b, “Agency in Praxis”, Journal of Race, Ethnicity and, Religion vol. 7: 1-18.
• Issaka-Toure, Fulera, 2013, “Contesting the Normative”, Crosscurrents 63 :198-210.

Encyclopaedia Entering

• Issaka-Toure, Fulera, 2018a, “Marriage Practices: Ghana”, in the Peer Reviewed Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures (BRILL), Supplement 17.

AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS:

• African Peacebuilding Network (Social Science Research Council-USA) July-December 2020.
• Post-doctoral funding from the Bavarian Government through the University of Bayreuth, June 1, 2018-May 31, 2019.
• Travel Grant from the International Club of the University of Bayreuth, November 2017.
• Conference Grant (for African Studies Association Conference 2017, Chicago) from the Equal Opportunity Department, University of Bayreuth.
• Conference Grant from the University of Amsterdam for workshop on Shia marriages, August 2017.
• Travel Grant (for African Studies Association Conference 2016, Washington) from Equal Opportunity Department, University of Bayreuth
• Scholarship for Female Doctoral Candidates from the Faculty of Language and Literature, University of Bayreuth, Germany, 2016.
• German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholarship holder from October 2013 to November 2018.
• Research Grant from the  German Research Foundation (DFG,) 2013-2018.
• Right Livelihood College Scholarship for Research on Human Rights in Africa and Asia, September 2016.
• Conference Grant, University of Tubingen, Germany, July 2014.
• University of Bayreuth Graduate School Conference Grant 2015-16.
• Ghana Education Trust Fund, 2013-2016
• National Research Foundation Bursary from the South African Government, 2010 to the year 2011, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Professional Associations:

• African Studies Association, USA
• Islam in Africa Studies Group, USA
• GEQUINDI, University of Bayreuth
• DAAD Alumna
• BIGSAS, Alumna

Affiliation to Research Institutions:

• Rightlivelihood College, University of Bonn, Germany

Consultancy Service:

• Acting as an Islamic consultant on the project, Does Science “Pierce the Truth of Every Religion”?
• Exploring the Impact of Formal Education on Science and Religion in Ghana, headed by Prof. Vivian Dzokoto, Virginia Commonwealth University