Elke Stockreiter joined the History Department in 2008 after obtaining her Ph.D. from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She was previously engaged in a research project on Islamic literature and networks in the south-western Indian Ocean at the University of Bergen, Norway. Aiming to obtain a deeper understanding of Muslim societies in Africa, her research merges the separate academic disciplines of African social history and Islamic studies. She explores Islamic law and gender relations as well as slavery and identity formation in East Africa. Drawing on Islamic court records from Zanzibar Town, her book manuscript discusses newevidence on female agency and the workings of Islamic law during the British colonial period.