Dr. Julie Macfarlane is Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Windsor, Adjunct Professor of Practice at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and a Research Fellow at the Institute for Social and Public Understanding. She conducts qualitative empirical research and has written extensively on dispute resolution and in particular the role of lawyers (The New Lawyer: How Settlement is Transforming the Practice of Law).

2012 Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) Scholar Award

"Meticulously researched with a careful, deeply respectful methodology based on first person interviews, Macfarlane's book opens much-needed and groundbreaking conversation. Perhaps the most revealing window this profoundly instructive book provides is one that reminds us how similar we are across our religious identities, and how important and relevant it is to constructively address the relationships between faith, meaning, and place in contemporary secular democracies. This book is one of the most empirically grounded and enlightening contributions for understanding lived Islam in North America to emerge in this past decade - a time clouded by the fury of religious apprehension and exaggeration." - John Paul Lederach, Professor of International Peacebuilding, University of Notre Dame

"Islamic Divorce in North America is a very timely book in light of the current debates about shari'a law in the Western world. I am impressed by the depth of research and information it has to offer. I will recommend it to those who are interested in Islamic Family Law as well as those working with couples on marital issues." -Imam Mohamed Magid, President of the Islamic Society of North America

"The book is important in several ways. It contributes to the scant qualitative literature on divorce and religious experience. It counters media and widespread assumptions of Islamic marriage and divorce as backward and anti-American... Finally, readers are challenged to think about the relationship between the state and religion in North America, where religious identity across faiths has become increasingly individualized." --Sociology of Religion

"Julie Macfarlane's book is a comprehensive, honest, and deeply sensitive study of some of the most challenging and contentious issues facing North American Muslims: namely, the rise in divorce rate and the role faith plays in the institution of marriage. I recommend this book as an essential and valuable reference for legal professionals, imams, academics, and counselors working with Muslim families." - Shahina Siddiqui, President/Executive Director, Islamic Social Services Association Inc.-Canada

"Macfarlane writes clear, elegant prose and has produced that rarity, a solidly accomplished academic study that can be read and enjoyed by any intelligent lay reader. This is a book that ought to have a wider audience than most academic studies. It provides the materials for a sane, balanced public discussion about law, religion, immigrant communities, marriage and divorce, and it can serve as a much needed corrective to the knee jerk prejudice that too often surrounds discussions of North American Muslims."--Vancouver Sun