Biography
Dr Amal Awad is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge.
Dr Awad holds a doctorate degree from the Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge specialising in Islamic Philosophy, with a special focus on the philosophy of mind in post-classical Arabic/Islamic philosophy. She wrote her doctorate dissertation: al-Rāzī’s Philosophy of mind under the supervision of Dr Tony Street. Prior to her academic engagement in philosophy and theology, Dr Awad pursued a career as a dentist in a private center in Jordan. She completed her first undergraduate degree in Dental Medicine and Surgery at the University of Jordan. Furthering her educational endeavors, she attained a second undergraduate degree in the Fundamental Principles of Religion from the same institution. Subsequently, she earned a Master's degree in Islamic Philosophy and Theology from the University of Jordan before moving to London to obtain a further Master’s degree in Philosophy from King’s College London. She wrote her MA dissertation in the Philosophy of Mind in the analytical tradition under the supervision of Prof. Bill Brewer.
Research
Dr Awad’s postdoctoral project aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the formation of the philosophy of mind in the early centuries of post-classical Arabic thought, namely the period 1000–1300 CE, during which Islamic-Arabic philosophers interrogated the nature of the soul, soul–body causation, and the unity of consciousness in ways that would define the philosophy of mind in the Islamic world in the centuries that followed. The research concentrates on the works of three major figures: Avicenna (970–1037 CE), Abū al-Barakāt al-Baghdādī (1080–1164 CE) and Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (1150–1210 CE). By exploring the latter two philosophers’ critical reconstruction of Avicenna’s philosophy of mind, the project will cast new light on the role they played in facilitating the integration of philosophical notions within the theological kalāmic tradition, and on how this transformation shifted the perception of the nature of the soul from materialism to dualism. The second aim of the project is to provide a translation of the section On Psychology (fī al-Nafs) of al-Rāzī’s influential work The Compendium in Logic and Philosophy (al-Mulakhkhaṣ fī l-manṭiq wa-l-ḥikma). Despite the importance of this philosophical compendium, the book (in Arabic) was edited and published for the first time only in 2021. Having rarely been translated, al-Rāzī’s writings are relatively inaccessible to Anglophone readers.
Publications
Awad, Amal. “Al-Rāzī on the Theologians' Materialism.” Arabic Sciences and Philosophy 33 (2023): 83–111.
Teaching and Supervisions
Teaching for Paper C1d: Arabic Philosophical Texts. Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge.
Other Professional Activities
I convene the Arabic Philosophy Reading Group at the University of Cambridge, a forum where scholars and doctoral students engage in the study of intricate medieval Arabic texts.
In 2022, I presented a paper entitled 'Al-Rāzī on the Theologians' Materialism" at the 4th Annual Islamic Philosophy Conference, The American Society of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Harvard University, USA.
In 2019 I organised the 3rd Annual History of Arabic Philosophy Group of Cambridge (HoAPGoC) conference on “al-Rāzī’s Philosophy of Mind” at the faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge.
In 2019 I presented a paper at the conference on “Mind & World for Humans & Machines” in Cambridge, UK.
In 2019 I presented a paper entitled " Unquinable Qualia: Defending Theism by Critiquing a Central Argument for Materialism" at a conference on ‘Abrahamic Reflection on Philosophy, Science and Religion’ at Bahçeşehir University's Civilization Studies Centre in Istanbul, Turkey.
In 2012, I presented a paper at the Conference of Postgraduate Thesis at the university of Jordan in which I won the Prince of Kuwait Prize for the best research in the field of humanities.
In 2011, I Commentated on a paper at “Aesthetic Philosophy in Islamic Thought” conference held by (IIIT) in Amman, Jordan.
