Susan Janet Carland (born 1980) is an Australian academic, author and television presenter best known for her ongoing media presence speaking on her academic speciality of

women in Islam The experiences of Muslim women ( ''Muslimāt'', singular مسلمة ''Muslimah'') vary widely between and within different societies due to culture and values that were often predating Islam's introduction to the respective regions of the w ...

Early life and education

Carland attended public schools. She has stated that one of her favourite recreational pursuits in childhood was

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, which she pursued from the age of seven. Carland grew up as a Baptist and Uniting Church Christian―although she later became a

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Musli ...

―and enthusiastically speaks of her upbringing. Carland completed a

Bachelor of Arts and Science A Bachelor of Arts and Science(s) (BASc), sometimes as Bachelor of Science and Arts (BScA or BSA), is an undergraduate bachelor's degree conferred by a small number of universities from countries including the United States, Canada, the United Ki ...

at Monash University. She also obtained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

from Monash in 2015, which focused on Muslim women combating sexism from within the religion's own traditions and communities.

Career

Carland teaches gender studies, politics, and sociology at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

, with a special focus on

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

women and

Muslims in Australia Islam is the second-largest Religion in Australia, religion in Australia. According to the 2021 Census in Australia, the combined number of people who Self-concept, self-identified as Australian Muslims, from all forms of Islam, constituted 8 ...

. She was a founding member and presenter of the SBS comedy talk show '' Salam Cafe''. Carland is active in the Islamic Council of Victoria and has appeared on Australian television and radio talk shows, typically providing a specifically Islamic and/or feminist perspective. In 2018, she hosted the Australian version of quiz show '' Child Genius'', on SBS. In 2017, Carland wrote ''Fighting Hislam: women, faith and sexism''.

Personal life

Carland converted to Sunni Islam at the age of 19. She became increasingly interested in the religion and then converted in her first year of university. Carland married

Waleed Aly Waleed Aly (born 15 August 1978) is an Australian television presenter, journalist, academic, and lawyer. Aly is a lecturer in politics at Monash University working in their Global Terrorism Research Centre, and a co-host of Network Ten's ne ...

in 2002. They have 2 children and live in Melbourne.

List of works

References

External links

*"Susan Carland — Monash University" https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/susan-carland {{DEFAULTSORT:Carland, Susan Living people Australian Sunni Muslims Australian non-fiction writers Monash University alumni 21st-century Australian writers 21st-century Australian women writers Writers from Melbourne Academics from Melbourne Australian people of New Zealand descent Converts to Sunni Islam from Christianity 1980 births