Isaac Friesen
Assistant Professor | Faculty staff
Profile
Isaac Friesen is Assistant Professor of Conflict Studies at Saint Paul University. His research brings together anthropological and historical perspectives on political conflict, religion, and imperialism. Isaac’s forthcoming book manuscript explores the Muslim attendance of Coptic spaces in provincial Egypt, where he has lived for over four years. He has ongoing research on religion, migration, and politics in Egypt, Canada and France. Prior to his position at Saint Paul University, Isaac was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge.
Professor Friesen provides opportunities for student supervision in areas such as colonialism and neocolonialism, international relations, historical and anthropological approaches to religion, and Middle Eastern religions, politics and societies.
Ph.D. (University of Toronto, 2021)
- Modern Middle East
- Political Anthropology
- Global History
- Religion
- Geopolitics
- Migration
- Imperialism
Books Authored
Friesen, I. (Forthcoming, 2026) Crossing Communities: Muslims and Christians in Contemporary Egypt. McGill-Queen’s University Press.
Journal Articles
Friesen, I. (Forthcoming, 2026), “An (Im)Possible Reconciliation: Copts, Gihadis and Everyday Peacebuilding in Provincial Egypt.” Peacebuilding.
Friesen, I. (2025). “A Progressive Transformation: Rising Cultural Progressivism across the Religious Spectrum in Canada.” Journal of Contemporary Religion, 40(1), 87-105.
Friesen, I., A. Xu, U. Boron, and G. Starrett (2024). “New Secular Formations.” Comparative Studies in Society and History.
Friesen, I. (2024). “Flexible States in History: Rethinking Secularism, Violence and Centralized Power in Modern Egypt.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 66(2), 369-391.
Friesen, I. (2024). “Local Ethics and Conflicts of Interest: Living Between Bottom-Up from Top-Down Peace in Provincial Egypt.” Journal of Peacebuilding & Development, 19(1), 95-109.
Book Chapters
Friesen, I. (2020). “On Samir Murqus, The Narrative of Crisis, and the Triumph of Tahrir.” In D. Fahmy and E. Mohamed (Eds.), Arab Spring: Modernity, Identity and Change (157-171). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Friesen, I. & Alexandrani, I. (2016). “Moving Beyond Tahrir.” In B. Momani and E. Mohamed (Eds.), Egypt Beyond Tahrir Square (166-176). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.