| REL 363. Muslims in the Modern World This course introduce students to issues that Muslims are facing in the contemporary world and to the role of Muslims as a religious, cultural and political force from late modernity to the present. We start with a brief introduction into the principles and pillars of the Islamic faith in order to place more recent events and developments in their religious, social and political contexts. The course will have a thematic focus that can vary by semester. Possible topics include: women and gender, Islamism and Islamist movements, religious interpretation and political situation in nation states, Muslim approaches to modernity, the interaction between Muslims and the West and the growing Muslim communities in Western countries. The course will introduce students to the diversity of contemporary Muslim cultures, the historical and contemporary interactions between the Islamic world and the West. Skills include the critical reading of primary texts by Muslim scholars and an understanding of the different approaches to the study of Islam in the modern context. Credits: 4 semester hours | |
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