UGA Department of Religion Dr. Kenneth Honerkamp

Kenneth L. Honerkamp
Professor of Arabic, Islamic texts, Shar'iah (Islamic Law), North African Sufism

Mailing address: UGA Department of Religion, Peabody Hall, Athens, GA 30602-1625
E-mail: hnrkmp@uga.edu Telephone: 706.542.1727 Fascimile: 706.542.6724

Professor Honerkamp teaches Modern Standard Arabic as a second language and in-depth textual study for advanced students. He is involved in research in Arabic manuscripts, particularly those found in the less often referred to manuscript collections of Morocco. He does research in the fields of Islamic Law and the integral relationship of Shariah and Islamic mysticism, or Sufism. His recent study and translation of two texts by Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami al-Naysapuri (d. 1021) and the Malamatiyya was published by Fons Vitae Publishers in early 2003. His critical edition and study of the Greater Collection of the Letters of Ibn Abbad of Ronda (d. 1390) is forthcoming in 2004.

Professor Honerkamp is a graduate of the Al-Qarawiyine University of Morocco. This university is part of the traditional education system of Morocco - where the traditional Islamic sciences are taught by the foremost scholars in their respective fields. He is also a graduate of the University of Aix-en-Provence, France where he completed his Ph.D. in 1999 after having earned a Master’s degree in religion from the University of Georgia at Athens in 1995.

Professor Honerkamp has brought to the Department of Religion at UGA his experience gained in the North-West Frontier of Pakistan where he studied with Islamic scholars of Islamic Law, Qur’an commentary and Arabic grammar. His years in Morocco as a student and then a professor at the Faculty of Arabic Letters provided him with an intimate knowledge of the traditional education system of Morocco as it exists today. His degrees from western institutions of higher education in the US and France have given him hands on experience in dealing with the difficulties and frustration that so often plague the learner of Arabic as a foreign language. His years of residency in the Muslim world have afforded him an understanding of Islamic faith and practice on the level of everyday practice that he is able to communicate to his students. In his classes his students come to appreciate the multi-faceted Islamic culture in as a living tradition. Now he has brought his years hosting and lecturing to international programs abroad in Morocco to the newly instituted Maymester in Morocco Program. This accredited program takes 18 students from UGA to a month long journey of discovery from the royal cities of Marrakesh, Fes and Rabat to the High Atlas Mountains to the Sahara Desert.

Photo by Athens Banner-Herald

More on Morocco and Arabic
Use the following hyperlinks (click on underlined text) to learn more:

It's the Heyday of Arabic, but It May Not Be Enough (published in The New York Times, November 16, 2003)

UGA Study Abroad Morocco Program is coordinated by the UGA Office of International Education.

The academic web site for Dr. Alan Godlas contains information for the study of Islam, religion, Qur'an, hadith, the Sunnah, Shi'ism, Sufism, Islam in the modern world, Muslim women, Islamic art, architecture, music, history, and Arabic.

The Moroccan government web site is offered in English, Arabic, French and Spanish.

Fons Vitae Publisher is publisher of Three Early Sufi Texts, Dr. Honerkamp's study and translation of two texts by Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami al-Naysapuri (d. 1021) and the Malamatiyya (2^nd edition, new and updated, 2009).

Al-Kitaab: a series of textbooks for Arabic is offered online at this site hosted by Emory University's Center for Interactive Teaching.

Center for Language and Culture (CLC) in Morocco, located in Marrakech--in the foothills of the snow-capped High Atlas mountains-- has become the premiere institute in Morocco for the teaching of all levels of Arabic (both classical/fus’ha Arabic and colloquial Moroccan Arabic/darija). The CLC is now affiliated with the University of Georgia. Its intensive summer Arabic program is designed to dovetail with the Arabic curriculum at UGA.

The American Institute for Maghrib Studies (AIMS) was founded in 1984 to promote the systematic study of North Africa. AIMS sponsors The Journal of North African Studies.

Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI) is an institution of higher education and scientific and technical research. AUI is modeled similar to an American university system. English is the language of instruction.

Al-Ahram is a weekly newspaper published in Cairo and offered online in English, French, and Arabic.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offers news from Africa, information on Morocco, and an Arabic language news page.

Aisha Bewley's Islamic Home Page is devoted to Islamic topics, in particular Maliki jurisprudence (fiqh), Sufism (tasawwuf) and some political and general Islamic topics.

NSRC Morocco is a web site of resources run by The Network Startup Resource Center. NSRC is a non-profit organization which helps develop and deploy networking technology through a variety of projects throughout Africa, Asia/Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and the New Independent States.

FLAS Fellowships are offered at The Center for the Study of Global Change.

American Association of Teachers of Arabic (AATA)

Sustainable Business Associates is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) that is working to engage industrialists in with the aim of minimizing environmental impact and improving business productivity.