The Institute of Ismaili Studies
Yvonne Fraser is currently the Preparatory Programmes Coordinator at The Institute of Ismaili Studies. Yvonne previously worked as the Lead Consultant at the same institute, managing an academic English and teacher training project in Tajikistan. Prior to that, Yvonne held positions such as Academic Manager at The Language Gallery, Pre-sessional Tutor at The University of Manchester, and English Projects Manager Libya at the British Council, where Yvonne was involved in capacity building education programmes. Yvonne has a B.A. Honours Degree in Government from the University of Central Lancashire and is currently pursuing an M.A. in TESOL and Applied Linguistics at The Manchester Metropolitan University.
The Institute of Ismaili Studies
The Institute of Ismaili Studies was established in 1977 with the object of promoting scholarship and learning of Muslim cultures and societies, historical as well as contemporary, and a better understanding of their relationship with other societies and faiths. Within the Islamic tradition, the Institute’s programmes seek to promote research on those areas which have had relatively little attention devoted to them in scholarship to date. These include the intellectual and literary expressions of Shi‘ism in general, and Ismailism in particular. In the context of Muslim societies, the Institute’s programmes are informed by the full range and diversity of cultures in which Islam is practised today. Particular attention is also given to issues of modernity that arise as Muslims seek to relate their heritage to contemporary circumstances. The Institute collaborates with several institutions of learning. For example, the graduate teaching programmes of the Institute have collaborated at various stages with McGill University, The University of London’s Institute of Education, The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), The University of Jordan and faculty-members of a number of universities in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.