Natural Science / Cognitive Science
and Five College Astronomy Department
Adele Simmons Hall, Room 218
Hampshire College
Amherst, MA 01002
Office Phone: (413)-559-6160
Email: 
Blog: Irtiqa - A Science & Religion Blog
Research
Evolution and perceptions of science & religion in contemporary Muslim world
I am interested in using perceptions about biological evolution to explore how educated Muslims view the relationship between science & religion. We have recently been awarded a 3-year grant by the National Science Foundation to conduct a study of Muslim physicians and medical students in 5 Muslim-majority countries (Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, Turkey) and 3 diasporas in the West (Germany, UK, and the US). For a brief description, please see award#0925982: Evolution and Islam. The circumstances for the debate are, in many ways, significantly different from the engagement between evolution and creation in the West. For example, all of modern science, including evolution, is an import for Muslims, often seen through the complicated lens of modernity and the interaction with past European colonial powers. Recently, we also hosted a conference at Hampshire College on the topic of Darwin & Evolution in the Muslim World.
Science and the Sacred:
An analysis of conflicts involving objects/places of astronomical importance and religion (w/ Tracy Leavelle, Creighton University). Currently, we are analyzing reconciliation efforts between astronomers and Native Hawaiians over telescopes on top of sacred Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
Astronomy Research:
My astronomy work relates to star formation in spiral galalxies. Currently, I’m working with a Hampshire student, Gideon Bass, on obtaining star forming properties of southern hemisphere Sb and Sc spiral galaxies using H-alpha imaging.
In addition, my interests include understanding the role of interactions (using neutral hydrogen) in the triggering of star formation in large-bulge spiral galaxies. My other collaborations include properties of star forming regions with David Thilker at Johns Hopkins University, and starburst galaxies between the redshift of 1 and 2 with James Lowenthal at Smith College.
Publications:
Upcoming Book Chapter:
Evolution and creationism in the Islamic world
Hameed, S. 2009, Science & Religion: New Historical Perspectives, Edited by Thomas Dixon, Stephen Pumfrey, Geoffrey Cantor (Cambridge University Press), Summer 2009
Refereed Journal Articles:
Bracing for Islamic Creationism
Hameed, S. 2008, Science 322, 1637
Discovery, photometry, and astrometry of 49 classical nova candidates in M81 galaxy
Hornoch, K.; Scheirich, P.; Garnavich, P. M.; Hameed, S.; Thilker, D. A. 2008, Astronomy & Astrophysics 492, 301
Chandra and XMM-Newton Detection of Large-scale Diffuse X-ray Emission from the Sombrero Galaxy
Li, Z., Wang, D., and Hameed, S. 2007, Monthly Notices of Royal Astronomical Society, 367, 960
H-alpha Imaging of Early-type (Sa-Sab) Spiral Galaxies II. Global Properties
Hameed, S. and Devereux, N. 2005, Astronomical Journal, volume 129, 2597
The Role of Interactions in the Evolution of Early-type Spirals
Hameed, S. and Young, L. 2003, Astronomical Journal, volume 125, 3005
The Discovery of a Giant Ionized Filament in NGC 7213
Hameed, S., Blank, D., Young, L. and Devereux, N. 2001, Astrophysical Journal Letters, volume 546, 97
H-alpha Imaging of Early-type (Sa-Sab) Spiral Galaxies I.
Hameed, S. and Devereux, N. 1999, Astronomical Journal, volume 118, 730
Massive Star Formation Along the Hubble Sequence
Devereux, N. and Hameed, S. 1997, Astronomical Journal, volume 113, 599
Select conference and seminar presentations:
Muslim Responses to Darwinism in South Asia 1859-2009
Religious Responses to Darwinism 1859-2009 conference at Oxford University, UK, July 15-18, 2009
Muslim Perspectives on Evolution and Science & Religion
McGill Symposium on Islam & Evolution, Montreal, Canada, March 30-31, 2009 [watch the webcast here (you may need additional software to view the talk)]
The Debate over Darwin and Evolution in the Contemporary Islamic World
Darwin’s Reach conference at Hofstra University, NY, March 13, 2009
Colliding cosmologies on top of Mauna Kea
Invited talk at Yale University, New Haven, November 13, 2008
The impact of creationist documentaries in the Muslim world
Conference presentation on a panel on Darwin and the evolution-Intelligent Design aftermath, as part of Film & History conference on Film and Science: Fiction, Documentaries and Beyond, Chicago, Oct 30-Nov 2, 2008
Bracing for Creationism in the Islamic World
Invited talk at Creighton University, Omaha, September 30, 2008
Darwin versus gods from outer space
Hameed, S. 2008, A presentation as part of UMass Interdisciplinary Seminar in Humanities and Arts (ISHA) on the theme of Other Worlds
Attitude towards science and the rise of creationism in contemporary Islamic world
Hameed, S. 2007, The Annual History of Science Conference – Science & Religion: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, Lancaster University, Jul 23-26
Confronting Paranormal Beliefs in a Short Course on Critical Thinking
Hameed, S., Robinson, G. M. and Moulton, J. 2004, Cosmos in the Classroom Workshop held at Tufts University, Cambridge, MA, July 15-18, 2004
H-alpha and Far-infrared Correlation in Early-type Spirals
Hameed, S., Devereux, N. 2004, American Astronomical Society Meeting 203, BAAS 116.13
STARFORM Survey: HII Region Luminosity Functions in Nearby Spirals
Hameed, S., Thilker, D., Walterbos, R., Devereux, N., Hoopes. C., Kenney, J. 2002, American Astronomical Society Meeting 200, BAAS 43.02
Properties of Star Forming Regions in Early-type Spiral Galaxies
Hameed, S., Thilker, D. and Devereux, N. 2001, in Galaxy Disks and Disk Galaxies, Edited by Funes and Maria; Astronomical Society of Pacific Conference Series, vol. 230, p. 315