Carool Kersten (Haelen, 28 June 1964) is a Dutch scholar of Islam. Trained as an Arabist, Southeast Asianist and scholar of Religions, he currently is Professor of Islamic Studies at the Catholic University Leuven in Belgium and Emeritus Reader in the Study of Islam & the Muslim World at King's College London. In addition, he is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Philosophical and Religious Studies of the Science & Research Center in Koper (Slovenia). His research interests focus on the modern and contemporary Muslim world, in particular intellectual and political developments in both regional and global contexts, as well as on theory and method in the study of Islam as a field of scholarly inquiry.