Classes for Fall 2011

Legal & Philosophical Approaches to Islam (2 Credits)


In this course, we will study the legal and methodological approaches of Islam covering the time span beginning with the period of Quranic revelation up to the dawn of colonial modernity. Beginning with the historical development of Islamic law, we will examine the legal content of Islam and its methodology, paying special consideration to how the Islamic tradition is structured both legally and ethically. Students will become familiar with the history and major topics of Islamic law, the legal structure and content of Islamic Sunni jurisprudence, along with the main sources and general methods of Islamic legal discourse.



­Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion

We will explore fundamental theoretical and methodological issues for the academic study of religion, including some of the more important theories of the origin, character, and function of religion as a human phenomenon. We’ll cover psychological, sociological, anthropological, dialectical, post-colonial and feminist approaches. We will explore some problems for the study of religion today: secularization theory and the intersection of religion and media.

Sociology of Religion: Islam and The Modern World

This course is designed to explore the role of religion in modern societies. We will examine religion as an important social institution and also as a cultural system. We will study canonical and contemporary theories of religion. The focus of the course, however, will be Islam. We will look at the cultural context and historical construction of Islam, as well as the different social contexts within which Islam has evolved. We will examine the relationship between Islam and modernity, including secular ideologies, gender politics, and modern democracy. We will pay particular attention to the role that Islam plays in the everyday life of those who practice it, who are affected by it, or who struggle with it as their tradition. Our goal is to study Islam not as a fixed object or authentic tradition but as a social and cultural phenomenon subject to change, contestation, and critique. Texts may include Mernissi, Islam and Democracy; Arkoun, Re-Thinking Islam; Fernea, In Search of Islamic Feminism; and Armstrong, Islam.

Black Intellectual Thought in the Atlantic World

This course examines the foundations, implementations, and implications of intellectual thought(s) of the African diaspora from the period of slavery in the Americas and post-emancipation societies through the present. Arguably, black intellectualism maintains roots in African-descended religious and cultural societies that pre-dates slavery in the West, however, this seminar seeks to explore the emergence of critical thought through historical, sociological, literary, autobiographical, religious and ethnographic writing that addressed vital issues facing African-descended peoples in the modern world. The matrix of race, class and gender has been a useful lens to analyze the systems and structures in place that both benefited and impeded racial progress. Yet, the themes of migration, nationalism, humor, music and empire-building also serve as essential tools to untangling and mapping the roots and routes of black intellectualism on four continents. Through a diverse set of materials (primary documents, films, music, and art) that utilize a multimedia and interdisciplinary approach to a range of historical, literary, political and economic questions central to Afro-diasporic experience(s), this course will critically engage the writings of thinkers who were at the vanguard of the Afro-modern and theoretical world, such as Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Du Bois, Anna Julia Cooper, Arturo Schomburg, Richard Wright, C.L.R. James, Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Paule Marshall, and Angela Davis.


Topics in South Asian History

This course introduces students to the society, culture, and economy of modern India---from the foundation of British colonial rule in the late eighteenth century to the nationalist struggle in the early twentieth century to the immediate post-colonial era—through the lens of broader issues in historical and cultural inquiry. We will examine shifts in society, economy, and culture during the modern period from different perspectives: British colonial agents, religious groups, the middle and educated classes, women and peasants, and the many-faceted struggle for independence before and during the period of Gandhi’s entry into nationalist politics. Secondary sources will be read in conjunction with primary sources that speak to the central issues explored: colonial state formation, the relationship between cultural and economic transformations, political identities and nationalism, collective memory and violence, and the political economy of development.