Islam and Identity

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course satisfies the College HALC (Humanities, Arts, Literature, & Cultures) Requirement. Through a survey of Muslim and non Muslim sources from the 7th century down to modern times, the course proposes an evaluation of the cultural and religious shaping of Islamic identity. From the beginning and throughout history, Islam was in contact with others: Jewish, Christians, Zoroastrians. By exploring different narratives from the origin until today, the course will address the issue of representation and self-representation. How did Islam see itself? How did others see it? The purpose of the course is to expose the students to original primary sources (ancient, medieval and modern texts in translation as well as contemporary media) in order to give them a better grasp of the making of Islamic identity/-ies across the various historical developments and the different socio-cultural contexts. The course combines lecture with discussions stemming from the readings. Films and documentaries will also be solicited on a regular basis. * This course has a one hour/week optional Arabic discussion session for interested students.