Asma Barlas is a Pakistani-American writer and academic. She is currently a professor of politics at Ithaca College. Barlas was previously the founding director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race and Ethnicity at Ithaca College for twelve years, and held the Spinoza Chair in Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. She earned a BA in English Literature and Philosophy from Kinnaird College, an MA in Journalism from the University of the Punjab, and an MA and PhD in International Studies from the University of Denver. Her publications include Re-understanding Islam: A Double Critique and Islam, Muslims, and the US: Essays on Religion and Politics.