Read to mentor Dannenberg grant winner

Freshman Ezgi Ustundag receives Dannenberg grant to work with Professor Jen'nan Read

Ezgi Ustundag was successfully awarded a Dannenberg grant to work with Dr. Jen'nan Read on a project entitled, "The Influence of Islamic Centers on Muslim-American Identity Formation."  Ustendag was enrolled in Dr. Read's fall Focus course on "Muslims in the West."  The course provided an in-depth assessment of Muslim communities in the west, not just in terms of their diversity, but also in terms of how they compare to other immigrant, ethnic, religious communities in the U.S. and western Europe.

As Read stated in her recommendation letter, "Ezgi is one of the brightest freshman students I have met during my tenure at Duke.  Her project has the potential to make a real contribution to on-going debates over Muslim integration in the west."  Ustundag and Read will continue to work on the project in the spring semester, with the goal of presenting the findings to the larger Duke community and beyond.