INST 318 – Topics in Global Studies: MUSLIMS IN THE WEST
ANTH 312 MUSLIMS IN THE WEST
Spring Semester, 2011
Instructor: Dr. Ahmet Yukleyen
Office: Sociology and Anthropology Department, Leavell Hall, Room 107
Office hours: Wednesdays, 10:00am-12:00
Email: yukleyen@olemiss.edu
Are Islamic and Western ways of life (in)compatible? This course will explore the diversity of Muslims and Islam in the West for an answer. There is intense public attention to Islam and Muslims in Europe and the United States due to global security concerns after September 11, 2001. However, insight on the diversity of more than ten million Muslims in Europe and six million Muslims in the United States is often missing. This course examines the various immigrant and indigenous Muslim communities in the West from holistic and comparative perspective of socio-cultural anthropology. We will integrate the social, economic, political, as well as the cultural and daily aspects to gain fuller understanding of different ways of being Muslim in multicultural Western societies. We will make comparisons among Muslims based on gender, age, ethnicity, sect, and lines of Islamic interpretation.
The students will learn about and appreciate the diversity within Muslim communities in Europe and the United States. They will go beyond media headlines and question their stereotypes by learning the daily lives of this religious minority. They will learn about the complex role of religion in modern public life involving violence and peace. The students will have chance to get a deeper understanding of a religious tradition, which has been referenced in global politics on a daily basis.
Grading
Attendance and Participation 15%
Midterm Exam I 20%
Midterm Exam II 20%
Presentation 15%
Final Exam 30%
The first requirement of this class is regular attendance, reading, and participation. These will make up 15% of your grade. Participation is especially encouraged. Your presentation in class will combine readings with a case study involving Muslims living in the West. Exams will cover material from the readings, lectures, and films.
Required Readings:
Anne Maria Schimmel (1992) Islam: An Introduction (New York: State University of
New York Press) Available as e-book at Olemiss library.
Cesari, Jocelyne (2004) When Islam and Democracy Meet: Muslims in Europe and in the
United States (New York: Palgrave MacMillan).
Reading Packet for ANTH 312 Muslims in the West (available at Copy Time, 407
South 11th Street, Phone: 662 234 2679)
Schedule of Topics and Readings
Week 1 (January 25):
Introduction to Muslims in the West
Week 2 (February 1): What is Islam?
What are its basic tenets and ritual practices of Islam as a religious tradition? Introduction of central beliefs and rituals in Islam including an overview of sacred texts (Quran and Hadith) and personae (Prophets and Caliphs).
Reading:
Anne Maria Schimmel (1992) Islam: An Introduction (New York: State University of
New York Press) pp. 1-90.
Film: Inside Islam
Week 3 (February 8): Who are the Muslims?
Overview of major developments in the history of Muslim societies. The split between Shia and Sunni Islam and the establishment of Caliphate. What were examples of conflicts (e.g. Crusades, Ottoman expansion in Europe) and peaceful co-existence (e.g. Andalusia) in the historical encounter of Islam and Europe? Who are the major Muslim thinkers of 20th century?
Reading:
Anne Maria Schimmel (1992) Islam: An Introduction (New York: State University of
New York Press) pp. 91-144.
Ayoob, Mohammed (2005) “Deciphering Islam’s Multiple Voices: Intellectual Luxury
or Strategic Necessity?” Middle East Policy 12(3) pp. 79-90.
Case Study: Medina Document
Week 4 (February 15): Muslims in Europe
Who are the Muslims living in contemporary Europe? What is the ethnic, national, and religious composition of major Muslim concentrations in Britain, Germany, and France? Reading:
Hunter, Shireen (ed.) (2002) Islam, Europe’s Second Religion (London: Praeger) pp. 1
-76.
Film: When Moors Ruled in Europe
Case Study : “The Harkis” in France
Week 5 (February 22): Islam in European Public Life
What are the major Islamic organizations in Europe? What are their religious interpretations on gender roles, secularism, democracy, and human rights?
Reading:
Cesari, Jocelyne (2004) When Islam and Democracy Meet (New York: Palgrave
MacMillan) pp. 1-88.
Case Study: Conversion to Islam
MIDTERM EXAM I (March 1)
Week 6 (March 1): Muslims in the United States
Who are the Muslims living in the United States? What is their ethnic, national, and religious composition? What are the differences between indigenous Muslim groups (i.e. Nation of Islam) and immigrant Muslims?
Reading:
Cesari, Jocelyne (2004) When Islam and Democracy Meet (New York: Palgrave
MacMillan) pp. 89-122.
Case Study: Little Mosque on the Prairie
Week 7 (March 8): Islam in American Public Life
What are the major Islamic organizations in United States? How do they organize their religious activities? What are their religious interpretations on gender roles and politics?
Reading:
Cesari, Jocelyne (2004) When Islam and Democracy Meet (New York: Palgrave
MacMillan) pp. 123-182.
Leonard, Karen (2003) “American Muslim Politics: Discourses and Practices”
Ethnicities 3(2) pp. 147-181.
Case Study: Nation of Islam
Week 8 (March 22): State Policies and Muslims
How do the various integration policies of European countries affect Muslims? How do State-Church relations in Europe and the United States impact Muslim integration? What have been the changes in policy after September 11, 2001?
Reading:
Fetzer, Joel S. and J. Christopher Soper (2005) Muslims and the State in Britain, France, and Germany (New York: Cambridge University Press) pp. 1-24; 146-157.
Case Study: Islamophobia
Week 9 (March 29): Socio-economic conditions and Muslim Immigrant Integration in the West
What are the social and economic conditions of Muslims living in Europe and the United States? What is the impact of low socio-economic class on Muslim religious life? What is the role of racial and social discrimination on Muslims?
Reading:
Lesthaeghe, R. (2001) Communities and Generations: Turkish and Moroccan
Populations in Belgium (Brussels: VUB University Press) pp. 1-56.
Case Study: Riots in France
Week 10 (April 5): Religious Life among Muslims in the West
How do Muslims run their religious life in the West? What are the functions of mosques? What is level of religious observance among Muslims? Is there a difference between youth compared to first generation? Are there trends of secularization and individualization or public recognition and role of Islam?
Guest Speaker: TBA
Case Study: Mosque building controversies
MIDTERM EXAM II (April 12)
Week 11 (April 12): Gender Roles and Muslims in the West
What are the debates among Muslims on the roles of men and women? Are these roles influenced by the Western context?
Reading:
Talhami, G. Hashem (2004) “European, Muslim and Female” Middle East Policy, 11(2)
pp. 79-90.
Jouili, S. Jeanette and Schirin Amir-Moazami (2006) “Knowledge, Empowerment and
Religious Authority Among Pious Muslim Women in France and Germany” Muslim World 96(4) pp.617-642.
Case Study: Headscarf ban in France
Week 12 (April 19): Islamic Mysticism
What is Sufism? What is the message of major Sufi figures that influence world literature (i.e. Yunus Emre and Jalal al-din Rumi)? What are the rituals involved in Sufi orders? What is the impact of Sufism on Muslims and non-Muslims in the West?
Reading:
Examples of Sufi poetry will be read and discussed.
Film: Sufi ritual practices of Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes
Case Study: Sufism in the United States
Week 13 (April 26): Creolization: Euro-Islam and American Islam
How do Islam and Muslims adapt and/or resist to their Western setting? What are the challenges in the development of local Islam in Europe and the United States?
Ramadan, Tariq (2002) “Europeanization of Islam or Islamization Europe?” in Hunter T.
Shireen (ed.) Islam, Europe’s Second Religion (Westport: Praeger) pp. 207-18.
Mandaville, Peter (2002) “Muslim Youth in Europe” in Hunter T. Shireen (ed.) Islam,
Europe’s Second Religion (Westport: Praeger) pp. 219-229.
Film: Allah Made Me Funny: The Official Muslim Comedy Tour
Case Study: Amina Wadud
Week 14: (May 3) Globalization and Violence
What is the impact of globalization on Muslims in general and Muslim minorities in the West in particular? What is the role of global community of Muslims (ummah) in Muslim politics? How do Muslims react to political developments in other parts of Muslim world? How is religious violence and globalization related?
Reading:
Roy, Olivier (2004) Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah (New York:
Columbia University Press) pp. 290-340.
Film: Power of Nightmares
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