H I B A K H O D R

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001 (henceforth 9/11), issues relating to the present and future of programs in the field of Islamic studies and of Islamic higher education institutions (IHEIs) gradually assumed greater importance, both on university campuses and in the political and policy arenas in Western and Muslim contexts. [...] The presence of Islam in higher education insti- tutions (HEIs) in Europe and the United States and the connection between Islamic movements and the perceived surge of Islamophobia have been the focus of many scholarly studies as well as of several conferences and academic meetings. [...] This paper presents a preliminary framework to help understand political and policy dynamics in higher education policy in general, and the changes surrounding IHEIs and Islamic studies programs in particular, in the United States in the wake of the events of 9/11 and with the rise of Islamic State (ISIS) a few years later. [...] An analysis of the relation between the policy and politics of establishing IHEIs, mainly in the United States, as well as a discussion of the main opportunities and challenges in the aftermath of 9/ 11 and the rise of ISIS are provided. [...] A deliberative discussion of the future of these institutions in the West—the goals they want to achieve and the policies necessary to achieve them, on the one hand, and the policymakers and higher education’s perceptions and mis- conceptions of the workings of these institutions, on the other—is essential in such a context.