Also thank you to the following Academics who advised at some or all of the stages of the documentary.
Dr. William Graham - Dean of the Faculty of Divinity at the Harvard Divinity School and Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies. In October 2000 he received the quinquennial Award for Excellence in Research in Islamic History and Culture from the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA), the research institute of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
Dr. Farhad Daftary - An academic authority on Ismailis, Dr. Daftary has written many books on the subject including The Assassin Legends: Myths of the Ismailis (London, 1994), A Short History of the Ismailis (Edinburgh, 1998), and Ismaili Literature (London, 2004). He has also edited Mediaeval Ismaili History and Thought (Cambridge, 1996) and Intellectual Traditions in Islam (London, 2000). Educated in Iran, Europe and the United States, Dr Farhad Daftary received his doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley in 1971. Since 1988 he has been affiliated with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, where he is Associate Director and Head of Department of Academic Research and Publications.
Dr. James W. Morris - He is currently professor in the Department of Theology at Boston College. He has written and taught in many areas of spirituality and religious thought, including the Islamic humanities, Islamic philosophy, Sufism, and cinema in spiritual teaching. His most recent books include The Reflective Heart: Discovering Spiritual Intelligence in Ibn 'Arabi's 'Meccan Illuminations' (2005); Orientations: Islamic Thought in a World Civilisation (2004); Knowing the Spirit (2006); and Ibn 'Arabi: The Meccan Revelations (2002). Previously, he held the Sharjah Chair of Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, where he was Director of Research and Graduate Studies at Exeter's Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies.
Dr. Renata Holod - She is professor of the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania. She received her BA in Islamic Studies from the University of Toronto, MA in the History of Art from University of Michigan and Ph.D. in Fine Arts from Harvard University. She has done archaeological and architectural fieldwork in Syria, Iran, Morocco, Central Asia and Turkey, and is currently directing an archaeological survey and settlement study project in Tunisia. As Convenor, Steering Committee, and Master Jury Member of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, she has interacted with architects and clients throughout the world. At Penn, she has served as chair of the History of Art Department, on numerous school and university committees. She has co-authored and edited the following works: City in the Desert, Architecture and Community: Building in the Islamic World Today, Modern Turkish Architecture.
Dr. Sulayman Nyang - He is a Professor of African Studies at Howard University in Washington, D.C. From 1975 to 1978 he served as Deputy Ambassador and Head of Chancery of the Gambia Embassy in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Following his diplomatic stint, he immigrated to the United States and returned to academic life at Howard University, where he later assumed the position of department chair from 1986 to 1993. He also serves as co-director of Muslims in the American Public Square, a research project funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Professor Nyang has served as consultant to several national and international agencies. He has served on the boards of the African Studies Association, the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies and the Association of Muslim Social Scientists. He is listed on the editorial boards of several national and international scholarly journals. He has lectured on college campuses in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Professor Nyang has written extensively on Islamic, African and Middle Eastern affairs.
Dr. Oleg Grabar - He is a Professor Emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study in the School of Historical Studies. He has had a profound influence on the study of Islamic art and architecture. He was named the first Aga Khan Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture when that chair was established at Harvard in 1980. In 1990 he came to the Institute for Advanced Study to devote himself full-time to lecturing and research.
Dr. Reza Shah-Kazemi - Founding editor of the Islamic World Report, Reza Shah-Kazemi studied International Relations and Politics at Sussex and Exeter Universities before obtaining his PhD in Comparative Religion from the University of Kent in 1994. Currently he is a Research Fellow at the His publications include Justice and Remembrance--Introducing the Spirituality of Imam Ali, The Other in the Light of the One--The Universality of the Qur'an and Interfaith Dialogue, and Paths to Transcendence--According to Shankara, Ibn Arabi and Meister Eckhart.
