Patricia Risso
Professor • Asia
Chair
• Department of History
Profile
Professor Risso teaches courses on the Middle East, Islam (intellectual history), Islam in Europe, India during British rule and a survey course on Asian civilizations. Risso also offers independent readings courses for graduate students who wish to study some aspect of the Middle East or India as part of a minor field in Asian History. Since joining the UNM faculty in 1986, she has also worked closely with numerous undergraduates on a variety of Honor’s thesis topics relating to Asia and the Middle East. Currently, she is researching a project focusing on piracy in the Indian Ocean and writing chapters for a supplemental text on gender and biography.
Education
B.A. in History, Bryn Mawr College, 1972
M.A. in Islamic History, McGill University, 1976
Ph.D. in Islamic History, McGill University, 1982
Research
Middle East, South Asia, Islam; cross cultural contacts in western Indian Ocean, 1500-1800; interplay of Islamic and customary law.
Selected Publications
“Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Piracy,” Journal of World History (2001)
Merchants of Faith: Muslim Commerce and Culture in the Indian Ocean (1995)
“Indian Muslim Legal Status, 1964-1986,” Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (1992)
Awards
National Endowment for the Humanities, invited consultant for “World History Institute,” held at Department of History, The State University of New York, Fredonia, June, 1998.
Courses
Traditional Eastern Civilizations; Modern Eastern Civilization; The Raj: India During British Rule; Islamic Middle East to 1800; Modern Middle East from 1800; India; Islam; seminar, Islam in Europe.