Senior Lecturer in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World at King’s College London. He also is Deputy Research Director of the Centre for Religions, Theology and Public Life (CERTAP) of the same university and a Research Associate at the Centre for South East Asian Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS). He has held fellowships and received research grants from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), British Academy, European Science Foundation, Higher Education Academy (HEA), and University of London. Carool Kersten is the author of Cosmopolitans and Heretics: New Muslim Intellectuals and the Study of Islam (2011) and co-editor of Demystifying the Caliphate (2012), as well as editor of the book series Contemporary Thought in the Islamic World for Asghate. Dr Kersten has a PhD in the study of religions from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of london and a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) from King's College London. He also holds an MA in Arabic Language and Culture (with distinction) from Radboud University Nijmegen (The Netherlands) and a Certificate in Southeast Asian Studies from Payap University in Chiang Mai (Thailand).