MuslimsJews:Rethink Narrative

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

The Jewish-Muslim relationship is often fraught with conflict. However, until the early modern period, most of the world’s Jews spoke Arabic and called the Islamic world home. Yet after a long Jewish presence in the Middle East, North Africa, and the Balkans factors in the 19th and 20th centuries like colonization, nationalism, war, and decolonization have utterly transformed the map, triggering a departure of Jews from the Islamic world in the 1950s and 1960s. This course explores the modern history of Jewish-Muslim relations beyond conflict. By examining the Jewish experience in the Islamic world from the 7th century until today, students will discover the interconnected and entangled world of Jews and Muslims (from Morocco to Iran) as the two communities participated in the production of a common heritage that still resonates in today’s world. Through the exploration of artistic productions (music, cinema, and literature) that are the results of this joint experience, students will rethink the narratives usually presented when it comes to the Jewish-Muslim relationship in the 20th and 21st centuries.