Chapman joined the Islamic studies subfield within the Department of Religion in 2019. She graduated from Washington and Lee in 2015 with a BA in Religion and worked in biomedical research ethics before moving to the Middle East to study Arabic and Persian. Her dissertation project blends her interests in Islamic studies and medicine. Tentatively titled Healing a Nation: Facets of Modern Muslim Medicine in Colonial South Asia, this work examines how religious identity mediated one’s experience of “Western” (allopathic) medical practices and public health campaigns in late 19th and early 20th century India. Using a variety of sources in Urdu and English, including literary journals, medical treatises, and political pamphlets, Chapman seeks to understand how Muslims viewed themselves as patients and practitioners within a medical landscape that was inextricably linked with the political transformations of the period.

Chapman is a Junior Fellow with the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS). She is currently overseas for archival work but welcomes emails from prospective or newly admitted students.