Relevant Courses
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[African and African American Studies 188. Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa]
Expected to be given in 2010-2011 Catalog Number: 3590 Jacob Olupona Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged. This course is a comparative and historical survey of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa. It will explore facets of Islam in African history, culture, and society, paying particular attention to Islamic institutions and organizations and the imprints of Islam on verbal and visual arts, religion and cultural identity. We will also focus on topics such as Islam and politics, Muslim-Christian relations, social change, women and gender, and the process of modernization. It will consider the emergence and growth of Islam in the age of identity politics, global Islamism, and religious revivalism. Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3698. |
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Arabic 163. Arabs, Islam and Democracy: Seminar (New Course)
Catalog Number: 6783 Saad Eddin Ibrahim Half course (spring term). W., 4-6. This course studies a broad range of social and cultural issues that challenge the various countries of the contemporary Arab world. Emphasis is placed on secular and religious debates, ranging from democracy to political Islam. Note: Knowledge of Arabic not required; open to all interested undergraduates and graduates. |
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Chinese History 270. Sources on Islam in Modern China (New Course)
Catalog Number: 1126 Jonathan N. Lipman (Mount Holyoke College) Half course (spring term). W., 2-5. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8, 9 Survey of sources for the study of Islam and Muslims in China since 1600, from law codes to ethnographies, gazetteers to memorials. Participants’ language skills and interests will determine topics for final projects. Prerequisite: Participants should be able to read Chinese, both modern and literary, with ease. |
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Expected to be given in 2009-2010 Catalog Number: 7027 Ali S. Asani Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 11:30-1, and a weekly section to be arranged.. EXAM GROUP: 13, 14 The course surveys the literary and artistic dimensions of the devotional life of the world’s Muslim communities, focusing on the role of literature and the arts (poetry, music, architecture, calligraphy, etc.) as expressions of piety and socio-political critique. An important aim of the course is to explore the relationships between religion, literature, and the arts in a variety of historical and cultural contexts in the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Europe, and America. Note: No prior knowledge of Islam required. Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3627. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for Culture and Belief or Aesthetic and Interpretive Understanding, but not both. This course fulfills the requirement that one of the eight General Education courses also engages substantially with Study of the Past. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Literature and Arts C. |
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Foreign Cultures 70. Understanding Islam and Contemporary Muslim Societies
Catalog Number: 1065 Ali S. Asani Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged.. EXAM GROUP: 5 Offers an introductory survey of the fundamental concepts of the Islamic faith and devotional practices of Muslim societies around the world. Focuses on developing an understanding of the diversity of Muslim religious worldviews and the manner in which they have been shaped by the political, social and cultural contexts in which Muslims live in various parts of the world, particularly in the modern period. Briefly considers the contemporary situation of Muslims as a religious and racial minority in Europe and the US. Note: Expected to be omitted in 2009-10. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the General Education requirement for Culture and Belief. Recent CUE Scores (Detailed CUE Results): 3.8 (Fall 2006-2007, Ali Asani) 4 (Spring 2005-2006, Ali Asani) 4 (Spring 2003-2004, Ali Asani) |
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*Freshman Seminar 37y. Muslim Voices in Contemporary World Literatures
Catalog Number: 8901 Enrollment: Limited to 12. Ali S. Asani Half course (fall term). W., 3-5:30. Investigates contemporary experiences of being Muslim in different societies as reflected in literature. Explores range of issues facing Muslim communities in various parts of the world through short stories, novels, and poems. Examines impact of colonialism, nationalism, and globalization; politicization of Islam; status of women and gender relations; attitudes towards the West and Western culture; interaction between religion, race, and ethnicity; search for an “authentic” modern Islamic identity. Readings of Muslim authors from five continents. Note: Open to Freshmen only. |
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*Government 98wc. Islam in Western Europe: Between Integration and Radicalization (New Course)
Catalog Number: 6835 Enrollment: Limited to 16. Jocelyne Cesari (Divinity School) Half course (fall term). M., 1-3. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7 From the Madrid and London bombings to the cartoons crisis, doubts have arisen regarding the ability of Muslims to integrate into European societies. This course will analyze the religious, cultural, and political situation of Muslims in Europe and discuss their accommodation to secular Western cultures and the different integration policies, primarily in France, Germany and the UK. It will also discuss the real risk and root causes of the radicalization of some of these European Muslims. |
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Government 1204. Islam and International Relations from World War II to Bin Laden (New Course)
Catalog Number: 3339 Jocelyne Cesari (Divinity School) Half course (spring term). M., W., at 9. EXAM GROUP: 2 The main purpose of this course is to analyze the different meanings and theories of jihad and how they influence International Relations and current conflicts in Afghanitan or Iraq. The course will review the use of jihad in Muslim empires and contemporary State systems, and will also analyze the modern concept of jihad in political movements like Hamas and Hizbu’llah and Al Quaida. No specific knowledge of Arabic or Islam is required. |
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Government 1206. Contemporary Political Islam
Catalog Number: 0371 Emad Shahin (The American University in Cairo) Half course (fall term). Th., 2-4.. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17 This course provides students with an understanding of the phenomenon of political Islam and its impact on today’s politics. It analyzes the Islamic order and the model(s) that inspires modern Islamist activists; examines the ideas of main ideologues of contemporary Islamic movements; and presents case studies of mainstream and radical Islamic groups. The course concludes with a critical analysis of the future of political Islam and its relations with the West. Recent CUE Scores (Detailed CUE Results): 4 (Fall 2007-2008, Emad Shahin) 3.8 (Fall 2006-2007, Emad Shahin) 4.3 (Spring 2005-2006, Emad Shahin) |
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*Government 1209. Post-Communist Islam
Catalog Number: 5816 Enrollment: Limited to 25. Thomas Simons Half course (spring term). Tu., 2-4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17 Examines the contemporary situations of Muslims in the post-Soviet space and Eastern Europe. After sessions on Islam as a religion and in history and on Muslims in the Russian Empire and under Communism, focuses on post-Soviet developments in the four main Eurasian areas where Muslims live, in Russia and in independent new states. Ends with sessions on Chechnya and on Muslims in the Balkans. Main theme: the interplay of socio-economic development, religion, and politics. Recent CUE Scores (Detailed CUE Results): 4.1 (Spring 2006-2007, Thomas W. Simons Jr.) |
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Catalog Number: 0352 Afsaneh Najmabadi Half course (fall term). M., W., 1:30-3, and a weekly section to be arranged.. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7 This course will focus on how concepts of woman and gender have defined meanings of religious and national communities in the Islamic Middle East and North Africa. It will survey changes in these concepts historically through reading a variety of sources-religious texts and commentaries, literary and political writings, books of advice, women’s writings, and films-and will look at how contemporary thinkers and activists ground themselves differently in this historical heritage to constitute contesting positions regarding gender and national politics today. Note: // For students under the Core requirement, counts as either Historical Study A or Foreign Cultures, but not both. Recent CUE Scores (Detailed CUE Results): 3.7 (Spring 2007-2008, Afsaneh Najmabadi) 3.9 (Spring 2005-2006, Afsaneh Najmabadi) 4.3 (Spring 2003-2004, Afsaneh Najmabadi) |
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*History 79b. America and the Muslim World (New Course)
Catalog Number: 7876 Enrollment: Limited to 12. Karine Walther Half course (spring term). Th., 2-4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17 This course will examine the influence of cultural and religious beliefs on interactions with Islam and Muslims both at home and abroad. Topics covered include: Muslim slaves in the Americas, the Barbary Wars, American missionaries in the Middle East, the Nation of Islam, US-Middle East relations, the American Muslim community after 9/11 and the most recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. |
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[*History 89c. Islam and Ethnicity]
Expected to be given in 2009-2010 Catalog Number: 4023 Enrollment: Limited to 15. Terry D. Martin Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged. Examines the relationship between Islamic religious identity and ethnic identity in the Russian, Ottoman, and Indian empires and their successor states. Inquires into what extent Islam can substitute for, reinforce, or undermine ethnic identity based on theoretical and historical works. Recent CUE Scores (Detailed CUE Results): 3.8 (Spring 2005-2006, Terry Martin) |
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[History 1050. Medieval Europe]
Expected to be given in 2010-2011 Catalog Number: 4278 Michael McCormick Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged. This course will examine the emergence of medieval civilization from the ruins of the ancient world, and the evolution of that civilization into modern Europe. Themes include: the fall of Rome, the spread of Christianity, the rise and fall of Byzantium, the challenge of Islam, the Vikings, the Crusades, commerce and agriculture, the Feudal Revolution, the Twelfth Century Renaissance, spirituality and persecution, the origins of law and government, the Black Death, and the Italian Renaissance. Note: Given in alternate years. Students prepared to pursue special topics can be accommodated. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Historical Study B. Recent CUE Scores (Detailed CUE Results): 4.6 (Spring 2004-2005, Michael McCormick) |
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History 1080. The Jews in Muslim and Christian Spain
Catalog Number: 5331 Bernard Septimus Half course (spring term). M., W., at 12.. EXAM GROUP: 5 A study of the political, social, and cultural history of the Hispano-Jewish community from the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711 to the expulsion of the Jews from Christian Spain in 1492. Emphasis on literary and intellectual developments and on the complex relationship of the Jews to Iberian Christendom and Islam. Combines material from former courses History 1151 and 1152. Note: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Historical Study B. Recent CUE Scores (Detailed CUE Results): 3.9 (Spring 2007-2008, Bernard Septimus) 3.9 (Fall 2006-2007, Bernard Septimus) 3.9 (Fall 2005-2006, Bernard Septimus) 3.8 (Spring 2004-2005, Bernard Septimus) |
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History 1270. Frontiers of Europe: Ukraine since 1500 (New Course)
Catalog Number: 1910 Serhii Plokhii Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 11. EXAM GROUP: 4 The history of Ukrainian territory and its people within a broad context of political, social and cultural changes in Eastern Europe in the course of the half of a millennium. Special emphasis on the role of Ukraine as a cultural frontier of Europe, positioned on the border between settled areas and Eurasian steppes, Christianity and Islam, Orthodoxy and Catholicism, as well as a battleground of major imperial and national projects of modern era. |
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History 1700. The History of Sub-Saharan Africa to 1860
Catalog Number: 5936 Emmanuel K. Akyeampong and Caroline M. Elkins Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 11. EXAM GROUP: 13 Survey of sub-Saharan Africa to 1860, with attention to the range of methodologies used in writing early African history, including oral history, archaeology, and anthropology. Will address themes of the impact of climate change on migration and settlement, trade and commerce, state formation, slavery, and the impact of Islam and Christianity on the continent. Will provide a methodological and historiographical framework in which more specific historical processes and events may be placed and understood. Note: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core requirement for Historical Study B. |
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History 1877. History of the Near East, 600-1055
Catalog Number: 1770 Roy Mottahedeh Half course (spring term). M., W., at 12. EXAM GROUP: 5 A survey of the history of the Near East and North Africa from the rise of Islam in the 7th century to the Turkish ascendance in the mid-11th century. Includes Muhammad and his community, Arab conquests, Umayyads and Abbasids, sectarian movements, minority communities, government and religious institutions, and relations with Byzantium and the Latin West. Recent CUE Scores (Detailed CUE Results): 3.7 (Spring 2007-2008, Roy Mottahedeh) 4.2 (Fall 2006-2007, Roy Parviz Mottahedeh) 4.2 (Fall 2005-2006, Roy Mottahedeh) |
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History of Science 161. The Scientific Revolution
Catalog Number: 2868 Mario Biagioli Half course (fall term). Tu., 2-4. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17 Examines the interrelated transformations in 16th- and 17th-century astronomy, cosmography, mathematics, medicine, and natural history. Places works of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Descartes in the context of the scientific traditions of ancient Greece and medieval Islam as revived by Renaissance humanists. Analyzes recent historiographical criticisms of the Scientific Revolution as “grand narrative” versus the particularism of micro-history. Adopts contemporary divisions of knowledge and differentiates concepts, practices, and rates of change within each scientific field as alternative interpretation. Note: This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core requirement for Historical Study B. |
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*Islamic Civilizations 241r. Approaches to Studying Indo-Muslim Culture and South Asian Islam
Catalog Number: 7515 Ali S. Asani Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Tu., 8-10. EXAM GROUP: Fall: 10, 11; Spring: 10, 11 A seminar for graduate students focusing on current scholarship on Islamic civilization in South Asia. Note: Open to undergraduates with a background in Islamic or South Asian studies. Prerequisite: Introductory coursework on Islam, Religion 1820 or equivalent. |
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Religion 1076. Religion and Politics in Current “Fundamentalist” Movements
Catalog Number: 8243 Harvey G. Cox, Jr. (Divinity School) Half course (fall term). Th., 1-3. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16 Why have so-called “fundamentalist” movements emerged in Judaism, Christianity and Islam in recent years? Why have they attracted so many people? How are they changing, and what future do they have? Is the term “fundamentalist” useful or misleading? We put these questions to such phenomena as TV evangelism, Christian Zionism, mega-churches and Opus Dei (Christian); the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas (Islamic); Chabad Lubavitch and West Bank Settler Messianic Zionism (Jewish). Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2511. Recent CUE Scores (Detailed CUE Results): 4 (Spring 2007-2008, Harvey Cox) |
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Religion 1077. Islam Through Western Christian Eyes
Catalog Number: 7552 Enrollment: Limited to 12. Harvey G. Cox, Jr. (Divinity School) Half course (spring term). Tu., 3-5. From the time of the Prophet until today Christians have interpreted Islam in a variety of ways in literature, poetry, art, theology, and films. Many images are constantly re-circulated. Beginning with early and classical medieval and Reformation Christian depictions, we will then consider contemporary western images of Muslims and Islam and how these depictions influence western political and religious attitudes. Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 2544. Prerequisite: Some previous study of Islam required. |
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Religion 1806. The Vocabulary of Islam
Catalog Number: 1701 M. Shahab Ahmed Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 11:30-1 with an additional hour to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13, 14 Provides students with knowledge of a broad range of key concepts, technical terms, seminal questions, and cultural motifs internal to the Islamic tradition. These constitute a vocabulary related to Quran and exegesis, Hadith, law, theology, political thought, philosophy, Sufism, ritual, literature, art, and architecture, that has permeated Islamic discourses, practices, and identities down to the modern period, and that is central to an informed understanding and further study of Islam as religion and civilizational complex. Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3978. Not open to auditors. |
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[*Religion 1820. Islam in South Asia: Religion, Culture, and Identity in South Asian Muslim Societies]
Expected to be given in 2009-2010 Catalog Number: 2741 Enrollment: Limited to 20. Ali S. Asani Half course (fall term). W., 3-5. A survey of the development of Muslim communities in the Indian subcontinent focusing on an exploration of religious identity. Issues and themes salient to Islamic identity considered within religious and political contexts, as well as the broader context of South Asian culture as expressed in language, literature, and the arts. Also examines the uses of the term “Islamic” and the lived experience of being Muslim in various pre-modern and modern discourses in South Asia. Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3625. Prerequisite: Introductory course in Islam or equivalent. Recent CUE Scores (Detailed CUE Results): 4.5 (Fall 2003-2004, Ali Asani) |
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[Religion 1825. Themes in Feminism and Islam: A Historical Overview]
Expected to be given in 2009-2010 Catalog Number: 9891 Leila N. Ahmed (Divinity School) Half course (fall term). Th., 3-6. This course follows out the history of feminist debates and developments in Islam from beginnings in 19th century Egypt to contemporary and ongoing discussions of women, gender and Islam in the United States. Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3604. |
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[Religion 1851. The Female Body and Islam: Religious Doctrines in Changing Societies]
Expected to be given in 2009-2010 Catalog Number: 9688 Baber Johansen (Divinity School) Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 11:30-1. EXAM GROUP: 13, 14 The Koran has developed rules of the gaze on men’s and women’s bodies. The ethical and legal rules of the Muslim fiqh have developed a very different protocol of the gaze. Muslim debates of the last thirty years attribute to the female body a fundamental role for the survival of a strongly gendered religious society and try to reinterpret the Islamic heritage in the light of new social reqirements. Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3629. |
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Religion 2841. Orthodoxy: Religion, Truth, and Authority: Seminar
Catalog Number: 5529 M. Shahab Ahmed Half course (fall term). W., 2-5. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8, 9 Orthodoxy is defined as “truth or sound belief according to an authoritative norm” (Encyclopaedia of Religion). Focuses comparative examination of the historical, social, institutional, and discursive constitution of orthodoxy in Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Islam, and Judaism. Note: Offered jointly with the Divinity School as 3979. Open to advanced undergraduates. Not open to auditors. |
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