World Islamic and Middle East Studies Honours (B.A.) (60 credits)

World Islamic and Middle East Studies Research Seminar.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Research seminar on topics in world Islamic and Middle East studies.

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Independent Reading and Research.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Supervised independent reading and research on an approved topic.

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Introductory Arabic.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Introduction to Modern Standard Arabic, including pronunciation and reading and writing of the Arabic script; and speaking and comprehension of basic sentences, commands, statements in the present tense.

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Introductory Arabic.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See ISLA 221D1 for course description.

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Lower Intermediate Arabic.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Speech, comprehension, reading and writing of more complex grammatical structures, including the conditional sentence, case endings, and verbs and verbal constructions.

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Lower Intermediate Arabic.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Speech, comprehension, reading and writing of more complex grammatical structures, including the conditional sentence, case endings, and verbs and verbal constructions.

See course page for more information

Lower Intermediate Arabic.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See ISLA 322D1 for course description.

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Higher Intermediate Arabic.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Introduction to advanced grammatical constructions and vocabulary through readings of longer texts in Arabic, as well as conversation, and exposure to video/audio cultural materials. Continued exposition of Arabic grammar, including active and passive participles, conjunction of irregular verbs, and active and passive voices.

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Higher Intermediate Arabic.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See ISLA 423D1 for course description.

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Advanced Arabic 1.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Advanced level of the Arabic language study.

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Advanced Arabic 2.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Advanced level of the Arabic language study.

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Colloquial Arabic.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Dialectical vocabulary and grammar structures.

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Introductory Persian.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Introduction to the Persian language, beginning with pronouncing, reading and writing the Persian script, and moving to vocabulary and grammatical structures needed to communicate in simple dialogues, read simple texts, and write simple paragraphs.

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Introductory Persian.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See ISLA 241D1 for course description.

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Lower Intermediate Persian.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Speech, comprehension, and reading and writing of more complex grammatical structures, embedded within a variety of short authentic Persian texts.

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Lower Intermediate Persian.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See ISLA 342D1 for course description.

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Upper Intermediate Persian.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Introduction to authentic texts about Persian culture, history, geography, politics, arts, and other topics relevant to Iran, as well as canonical poems of various modern and classical poets, and selected Persian proverbs and their meanings and connotations.

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Upper Intermediate Persian.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See ISLA 443D1 for course description.

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Advanced Persian 1.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Advanced level of Persian language study.

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Advanced Persian 2.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Advanced level of Persian language study.

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Introductory Turkish.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Introduction to speaking and comprehension of basic sentences, commands, statements in the present and future tenses. Introduction to simple daily conversations.

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Introductory Turkish.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See ISLA 232D1 for course description.

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Lower Intermediate Turkish.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Listening comprehension, reading, and writing of more complex grammatical structures, including the subjunctive, future, and past tenses.

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Lower Intermediate Turkish.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See ISLA 333D1 for course description.

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Higher Intermediate Turkish.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Contemporary cultural texts in Turkish, including literature and media. Reading materials supported by audio visual media featuring modern spoken Turkish.

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Higher Intermediate Turkish.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See ISLA 434D1 for course description.

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Advanced Turkish.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Language acquisition - advanced Turkish.

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Advanced Turkish.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See ISLA 535D1 for course description.

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Ottoman Turkish

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Ottoman Turkish language, including the Ottoman script, grammar, vocabulary, and calligraphy styles.

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Introductory Urdu-Hindi.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Introduction to Urdu-Hindi language including pronunciation and reading and writing of either Urduor Hindi script, speaking and comprehension of basic sentences, commands, statements in the present tense.

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Introductory Urdu-Hindi.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See ISLA 251D1 for course description.

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Intermediate Urdu-Hindi.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Speech, comprehension, and reading and writing of more complex grammatical structures, including the subjunctive, future, and past tenses.

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Intermediate Urdu-Hindi.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See ISLA 352D1 for course description.

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Advanced Urdu-Hindi 1.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Builds upon Intermediate Urdu-Hindi to introduce students to advanced grammatical constructions through reading of longer texts in the Urdu or Hindi script, conversation, and video/audio cultural materials.

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Advanced Urdu-Hindi 2.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Advanced study of grammatical constructions through reading long texts in the Urdu or Hindi script, conversation, and video/audio cultural materials.

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Urdu Poetry.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Interpretation of Urdu poetry for students with intermediate to advanced-level knowledge of Urdu-Hindi language. Includes advanced grammar topics, cultural and historical background, and interpretation and analysis.

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Islamic Civilization.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

An introduction to, and survey of, the religious, literary, artistic, legal, philosophical and scientific traditions that constituted Islamic civilization from the 7th Century until the mid-19th Century.

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Muslim Societies.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

An introduction to the different, often disparate, ways in which Muslims live and think in the modern world (19th-21st centuries). Muslim social contexts across the globe and cyberspace.

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Special Topics 7.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Subject matter will vary year to year, according to the instructor. Topic will be made available in Minerva.

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Topics in Islamic History.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Subject matter will vary year to year, according to the instructor. Topic will be made available in Minerva.

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Women in Islam.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The socio-legal status, conditions, and experiences of various groups of women in Middle Eastern societies. These features are explored within the framework of Islamic feminism and Western feminist discourses, and the tensions and conflicts between them. The dynamics of seclusion, veiling, and polygamy are explored in connection to Medieval Arab ruling elites as a background to some of the discussions and debates over the status of women in modern postcolonial Arab society. Socio-economic divisions, state policies, patriarchy, and colonialism are investigated as key factors in understanding the modern historical transformation of gendered relations and women's roles.

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Ottoman State and Society to 1839.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The emergence and development of the Ottoman Empire from its beginnings around 1300 until the Tanzimat Edict of Reform in 1839. A trajectory of Ottoman history from a small principality to a centralized empire, then to a decentralized governmental structure. In addition to chronological developments, questions of imperialideology and the management of ethnically and religiously diverse communities across a vast territory. Exploration of the place of the Ottomans in the early modern world, and their ideological and diplomatic rivalry with other major empires.

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Introduction to Shi'i Islam.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Developments in doctrines, legal school, rituals and political thought of Twelver Shi'ite Muslims during early and late medieval periods (centuries VII-XIII). The emergence of the earliest Shi'ite communities in Arabia, Yemen, Iraq and Iran stressing the relationship of the Shi'ite Imams and their religious scholars to the Sunnite Caliphates.

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Islamic Mysticism: Sufism.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The varieties of "mystical" thought in Islam, primarily as seen in Sufism, its historical development and its place in Islamic culture. Analytical study of major authors, their writings and their central problems.

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Modern History of the Middle East.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Assessment of the historical transformation of the modern Middle East concentrating on its internal socio-economic changes, as well as the colonial experience and encounters with the West since the early 19th century. Examination of the historical conditions that led to the rise of nationalism, the nation-state, the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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Islam and Politics in Africa

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Assessment of the relationship between Islam and politics in the contemporary Africa through various analytic themes, including political economy, social movement and gendered analysis.

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Middle East Since the 1970's.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Changes that have occurred in the Middle East since the 1970's, viewed through the lens of themes such as migration, consumerism, war, communications, and ideology.

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The Qur’an: History and Interpretation.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

It examines the history of the codification of the text, its form, and modes of interpretation in both the modern and pre-modern periods. Presentation of different schools of Qur’anic exegesis, including traditional hermeneutical approaches, and modern approaches such as feminist interpretations of the Qur’ān.

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Islamic Philosophy and Theology.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

A survey of the most important philosophers and theologians in Islamic intellectual history, with a focus on the theories they articulated and the movements they engendered. The impact of European thought on 19th and 20th century Islamic intellectual history is also examined.

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Central Questions in Islamic Law.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

An integrative view of Islamic law in the past and present, including landmarks in Islamic legal history (e.g., sources of law; early formation; intellectual make-up; the workings of court; legal change; legal effects of colonialism; modernity and legal reform) and a structured definition of what it was/is.

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Poetics and Politics in Arabic Literature.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Major issues in classical and modern Arabic literature; how poetics and politics interact in classical and modern, popular folktales and high literature, novels and poetry. The politics of translation from Arabic into English.

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Persian Literature.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Examination of literature produced in the Persian-speaking world from the mid 10th to the late 20th century C.E. A broad selection of texts (prose and poetry) will be studied in translation.

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Arabic Literature as World Literature.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Consideration of Arabic literature as part of world literature, including exploration of tensions between reading Arabic literature as local, discrete and self-contained and as part of larger global phenomena.

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Melancholic Migrants

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The histories, cultures, and racial politics of South Asians and Muslims of North America and the United Kingdom from the 16th century to the present. Focusing on South Asians (regardless of religious identity), Black Muslims, Latine Muslims, Arabs and Berbers, Turks and other post-/Ottoman peoples, Iranians, and white Muslims, with special attention to the Montreal context.

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World Islamic and Middle East Studies Internship.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Internship with an approved host institution or organization.

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History: Middle-East 1798-1918.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

A study of the Middle East from Napoleon's invasion of Egypt to the end of WWI. Emphasis will be on the emergence of nationalisms in the context of European imperialism; political, social, and economic transformation; religion and ideology; and changing patterns of alliances.

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History: Middle-East 1918-1945.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The impact of WWI on Middle Eastern society and politics; the British and French mandates; the growth of nationalisms, revolutions and the formation of national states; WW II and the clash of political interests within the region.

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Modern Iran: Anthropological Approach.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The modern history, social, and cultural anthropology of contemporary Iran.

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Indo-Islamic Civilization: Medieval.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The rise of Islam in South Asia in the 8th Century and its subsequent expansion; evolution of Indo-Islamic civilization and its apogee during Mughal rule up to 1707. Themes include state and religion; ruling institutions; political theory, Sufism and the process of conversion, as well as the formation of a composite culture.

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Islamic Culture - Indian Subcontinent.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Survey of Islamic culture (faith systems, literature, music, art) on the Indian subcontinent from the early modern period to the present, with a focus on conflict and relations between Muslims and non-Muslims, and between majority and minority Muslim groups.

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Islamdom: Baghdad to Cordoba .

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The course examines the major socio-political developments in Iraq, Persia, Syria, Egypt, North Africa and Spain from the 9th to the 13th Century. Emphasis is laid on the Umayyad Caliphate centered in Cordoba, and the 'Abbasid Caliphate centered in Baghdad, and the rise of important local dynasties leading up to the Mongol invasion. The course underscores the formation of Islamic cultures in distinct geographical settings and the transformation of religious life under new socio-economic conditions. It also explores shifting notions of civil society and orthodoxy.

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Tales of Wonder-Islamic World.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Reading of literary masterpieces of Islamic world focused on three collections of marvelous tales in Arabic, Persian and Urdu: The Arabian Nights, the Shahnameh, and the Adventures of Amir Hamza. May include film screenings, visual art, viewing of rare materials.

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Special Topics 6.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Selected topics in Islamic and Middle East studies. Subject matter will vary year to year, according to the instructor. Topic will be made available in Minerva.

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The Qur'an: Text and History.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

A study of the Qur'an's teachings, structures, style, and history in the light of classical and modern scholarship.

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Art in the Age of Empires.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

This course offers a wide-ranging survey of visual culture under the three Muslim superpowers of the early modern period: the Mediterranean-based Ottomans, the Safavids of Iran, and the Mughals of India. The course will examine the nature of these states and their distinctive and vibrant artistic idiom on a comparative basis. Topics include the formation of imperial ideology and its visual articulation; palaces and court culture; artistic organization, authorship, and agency; patronage, gender, piety, as well as cross-cultural interaction.

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Islam: Origin and Early Development.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The Qur'an, Hadith, the Shari'a and their major themes. The early development of law, theology and Sufism. The development and formation of an Islamic "orthodoxy", the development and nature of competing interpretations of Islam during the Classical Period. Topics: God, revelation, prophecy, the community and the individual and the meaning of history.

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Revolutions: Arab Middle East and North Africa.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The post-Ottoman Arab world; major socio-political transformations and revolutions in the 20th century Middle Eastern and North African Arab countries; the historical contexts that shaped them and their implications. Interdisciplinarity (anthropology, psychology, sociology, psychiatry, law), effects of revolutionson individuals and societies; the cause of these revolutions; the impact of the modernization/reforms, colonialism and the rise of nationalist movements on them; the diverse compositions and aims of these revolutions; types of social groups and political organizationsand societies that were drawn to these revolutions and why; and the role colonial and postcolonial powers played in them.

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Medieval Islam, 10th-12th Century.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Socio-political, religious and intellectual developments in Muslim societies following the weakening of the Arab-Sunni Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad during the tenth century. Emphasis will be placed on the historical formation and features of the Seljuq and Buyid dynasties as well as the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt.

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Art of the Ottoman Empire.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

This course examines artistic production of the large and long-lived empire of the Ottomans. Focusing on key monuments of art and architecture, discussion will revolve around issues relating to imperial identity, patronage, court-culture, and cross-cultural exchange.

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The Medieval School in Islam.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Schooling in medieval Islamic society particularly in Iraq, Greater Syria, Persia, and Egypt. Sheds light on the structure of learning, aims of education, the life of students including women, and their relationship to their teachers. Illuminates forms of academic evaluation, and looks closely at the "scholarly license" as an accrediting tool delineating its function and scope. Through a set of representative studies on the medieval school, it brings attention to the heated debates surrounding the academic rigor of this form of learning, and the place of scientific learning in it, as well as the historical connection between it and the early European college.

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Medieval Islam, 13th-15th Century.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The historical circumstances surrounding the Crusades against Muslims in Greater Syria and Egypt. The socio-economic, political, and cultural transformation of Muslim society following the destruction of the Abbasid Caliphate, and the rise of the Ikl-Khanid Mongols in Iran and Iraq, as well as the Mamluks in Syria and Egypt. Emphasis will be placed on the integration of new Persian, Turkish, and Indian populations into Islamic imperial culture.

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Survey Development of Islamic Thought.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

A survey of the development of the major intellectual traditions of Islamic civilization in medieval and modern times.

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Urdu Poetry.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Interpretation of Urdu poetry for students with intermediate to advanced-level knowledge of Urdu-Hindi language. Includes advanced grammar topics, cultural and historical background, and interpretation and analysis.

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Special Topics 1.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Selected topics in Islamic studies.

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Special Topics 2.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Selected topics in Islamic Studies.

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Arab Women's Literature.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Explorations of writings by Arab women. Issues include: translation/reception, gender and genre, categories of knowledge about Arab women, feminist and post-colonial theories/methodologies.

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Anthropology of Religion.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Nature and function of religion in culture. Systems of belief; the interpretation of ritual. Religion and symbolism. The relation of religion to social organization. Religious change and social movements.

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Globalization and Religion.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The interactions between religion and the economic, social and cultural transformations of globalization: relations between globalization and contemporary religious practice, meaning, and influence at personal and collective levels.

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Anthropology of South Asia.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

An introduction to anthropological research in India and greater South Asia. Topics include politics, caste, class, religion, gender and sexuality, development and globalization.

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Introduction to South Asian History.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Charts the making of South Asian civilization, 2500 BCE- 1707 CE, through a selection of key themes and major trends. Focus on the transformation of local kinship ties into regional kingdoms and empires, the evolution of religion and the legacy of the expansion of Islam and consequent rise of Turkish, Afghan and Mughal empires in this area.

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Modern History of Islamic Movements.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Islamic revival in the Middle East which led to the rise of different versions of Islamic traditions and beliefs. Emphasis on the nature and character of leading nationalist and Islamic movements and their ideologues since the late 19th century.

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Themes in Middle East History

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Exploration of a theme in the history of the Middle East.

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History of Modern Egypt.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Explores the history of Egypt from the 18th Century to today. Topics include: Ottoman Egypt, the impact of French and British Colonialism, Nasserism, Camp David and economic liberalization, and the Egyptian Revolution of 2011.

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Themes in South Asian History.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Exploration of a theme in the history of South Asia.

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Topics in South Asian History.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

In-depth discussion and research on a topic in the history of South Asia.

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Topics in Middle East History.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Examination of a selected topic in the history of the modern Middle East from the late 19th century to the present.

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Introductory Hebrew.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Language acquisition - introductory Hebrew.

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Introductory Hebrew.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See JWST 220D1 for course description.

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Jewish Life in the Islamic World.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Until the early modern period, most of the world’s Jews spoke Arabic and called the Islamic world home. This course explores the Jewish experience among Muslims from the seventh century until the present. Through close readings of primary sources and historical scholarship, students will learn how Jews under Islam shaped modern Judaism, how engagement with Arabic in Islamic Spain led to the revival of Hebrew, and how the Jewish-Muslim relationship fared in the twentieth century. The course also probes themes of history and memory in light of the departure of Jews from the Islamic world in the 1950s and 1960s.

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History of Jewish Philosophy and Thought.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

An introduction to Jewish philosophy and thought from the Hellenistic period (Philo) to the beginning of the modern era (Spinoza) focusing on topics such as prophecy and philosophy, God and the world; the Law as a canon of ethical rules and as a political constitution. Survey of the treatment of such issues by Jewish thinkers from Philo to Maimonides.

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Modern Jewish History.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Exploration of major transformations to Jewish society and identity in the modern period. Topics include nationalism, emancipation, acculturation, modernity, relations with non-Jews, popular culture, and literature.

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Intermediate Hebrew.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

This course is designed to integrate students at various levels into one group with the aim of improving their basic language skills and preparing them for advanced Hebrew.

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Intermediate Hebrew.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See JWST 320D1 for course description.

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The Israeli Novel.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

In-depth examination of selected Israeli novels written during the past fifty years of national formation and consolidation. Authors may include Agnon, Yehoshua, Oz, Shabtai, Shalev and others.

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Jews and Muslims: A Modern History.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

This course examines the modern history of Jewish-Muslim relations beyond just conflict. We will look at the experience of Jews and Muslims -- as individuals and communities -- who charted new cultural territory while navigating colonialism, nationalism, war, and decolonization, through close readings of a wide variety of primary sources (including letters, memoirs, fiction, music, film, and photography) and historical scholarship.

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Jewish Philosophy and Thought 2.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Focuses on either a period, a current of thought or the work of a thinker in the history of Jewish thought from the Middle Ages to Modern Times, paying particular attention to the relationship of Jewish thinkers to intellectual trends in their respective cultural contexts. themes and concerns of Jewish theology and on Jewish responses to contemporary trends in European thought.

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Modern Jewish Studies.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Topics in Jewish Studies. Semesters will be devoted to specific issues and periods of the Jewish Experience since 1500 and the literature produced by Jews during this period.

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Advanced Hebrew.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Language acquisition - advanced Hebrew.

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Advanced Hebrew.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

See JWST 340D1 for course description.

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History of Zionism.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

An examination of the development of the Zionist idea, the most influential expression of modern Jewish nationalism, which led to the creation of the Jewish state. The transformation of elements of traditional Jewish messianism into a modern political ideology. Hibbat Zion, Political Zionism, Cultural and Synthetic Zionism will be discussed.

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Hebrew through Israeli Cinema.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

An opportunity to analyze Israeli cinema from different periods, spanning 1948 to the present. While participating primarily in Hebrew with some assignments in English, students in this course will be invited to engage actively with the social, political, psychological and aesthetic dimensions of these films.

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Israeli Popular Culture.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Israel's multifaceted contemporary culture including music, theatre and the visual arts, as well as stand-up comedy, dance, film and TV series, and contemporary Israeli society.

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Early Medieval Philosophy.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

An examination of selected works in the Christian, Islamic and Jewish traditions. Topics in moral and political philosophy, logic and metaphysics, philosophical psychology and epistemology, philosophy of science, and philosophical theology may be discussed.

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Comparative Politics of the Middle East.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

An examination of the societies, political forces and regimes of selected countries of the Eastern Arab world (Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia).

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Foreign Policy: The Middle East.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

An examination of the changing regional security environment and the evolving foreign policies and relationships of Arab states in three areas - relations with non-Arab regional powers (Israel, Iran), inter-Arab relations, Great Power relations. The course will focus particularly on Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

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Arab-Israel Conflict, Crisis, Peace.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Concepts - protracted conflict, crisis, war, peace; system, subsystem; Conflict-levels of analysis; historical context; images and issues; attitudes, policies, role of major powers; Crises-Wars - configuration of power; crisis models; decision-making in 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982 crisis-wars; conflict- crisis management; Peace-Making - pre-1977; Egypt-Israel peace treaty; Madrid, Oslo, Israel-Jordan peace; prospects for conflict resolution.

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Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

An introduction to the beliefs, practices, and religious institutions of these three world religions.

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Bible, Quran and Interpretations.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Jewish, Christian and Muslim scriptures as responses to earlier sacred texts and in the light of post-scriptural interpretations. The debates, polemics, interpretative strategies, and intellectual and spiritual sharing produced by these three religions in accepting, explaining, amplifying, modifying, and selectively rejecting their and other sacred scriptures.

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World Religions and Cultures They Create..

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

The constitution and mutual entanglements of selected religions and cultures originating and thriving in varied regional contexts. Focus on highlighting the symbolic (visual, aural) expressivity of religions via ritual, myth, and rational speculation and its impact on high and popular cultures.

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Global Islam.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

Western scholarship has oscillated between orientalizing Islam and co-opting it into the Western (Abrahamic) fold of religious traditions. The course will challenge both perspectives by exploring Islam’s dynamic unfolding across a variety of civilizational regions and during subsequent epochs. Its patterns of premodern globalization are nowadays retrieved, sometimes by fitting Islamic cultures into neoliberal patterns of globalization, more often by sidelining or overlaying the Westphalian system of sovereign nation-states. The course will show how Islamic traditions have, both in history and in the present, developed unique intellectual tools and practical resources to interface both with ‘radical’ (Abrahamic) and ‘dialogic’ (non-Abrahamic) religious traditions: from the West (also via labor-based migration), through Central and South Asia, to East and Southeast Asia.

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Religions in Global Society.

Terms offered: this course is not currently offered.

This seminar is devoted to the study of a plurality of often intersecting religious traditions in a globalizing world, based on interdisciplinary scholarship drawing from history, sociology, anthropology and archaeology. It starts from locating religious phenomena within intersecting social, cultural and political fabrics around the world. It articulates the relation between a multi-faith appreciation of the role of religions in a variety of societies and the emergence of diverse patterns of secularity in them. It facilitates a rich understanding of a complex past to shed light on the new challenges of globalization, including the opening of horizons of postsecular understandings and arrangements.

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