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Program Requirements
This Minor concentration permits students to explore the development and diversity of Islam through courses that focus on Islamic history, religion and civilization in the pre-modern period (pre-19th century), as well as through courses that focus on the dynamics of modern and contemporary (19th through 21st centuries) Muslim societies and cultures.
Required Courses (6 credits)
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ISLA 200 Islamic Civilization (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : An introduction to, and survey of, the religious, literary, artistic, legal, philosophical and scientific traditions that constituted Islamic civilization from the 7th Century until the mid-19th Century.
Terms: Fall 2013
Instructors: Hartman, Michelle Laura (Fall)
Fall
Note: All readings are in English.
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ISLA 210 Muslim Societies (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : An introduction to the different, often disparate, ways in which Muslims live and think in the modern world (19th-21st centuries). Muslim social contexts across the globe and cyberspace.
Terms: Winter 2014
Instructors: Abisaab, Malek (Winter)
Winter
Complementary Courses (12 credits)
12 credits selected from:
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ISLA 325 Introduction to Shi'i Islam (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : Developments in doctrines, legal school, rituals and political thought of Twelver Shi'ite Muslims during early and late medieval periods (centuries VII-XIII). The emergence of the earliest Shi'ite communities in Arabia, Yemen, Iraq and Iran stressing the relationship of the Shi'ite Imams and their religious scholars to the Sunnite Caliphates.
Terms: Winter 2014
Instructors: Abisaab, Rula (Winter)
Winter
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ISLA 330 Islamic Mysticism: Sufism (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : The varieties of "mystical" thought in Islam, primarily as seen in Sufism, its historical development and its place in Islamic culture. Analytical study of major authors, their writings and their central problems.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Prerequisite(s): ISLA 200 or permission of instructor.
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ISLA 340 Islamic Law and Human Rights (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : The impact of modernity on Islamic legal discourse and practice, with particular focus on hermeneutical approaches devised to create an overlapping consensus with liberal democracy. The counter discourse – popularly known as Salafism -- to which Islamic modernism gave rise will also be examined.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Prerequisite: ISLA 200 or permission of instructor.
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ISLA 345 Science and Civilization in Islam (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : History of scientific traditions and ideas in Islamic civilization, from the origins of Islam to the early modern period. Emphasis is on the derivation, development and transmissions of Islamic science, as well as on the assimilation and influence of science within Islamic culture.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Winter
Prerequisite: ISLA 200 or permission of the instructor.
Note: All readings are in English.
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ISLA 350 From Tribe to Dynasty (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : The political and intellectual developments shaping Arab and Persian societies from the rise of Islam in the 7th century until the early mid 8th century, including the major social changes, political revolts, religious schisms, and the consolidation of lasting cultural institutions.
Terms: Fall 2013
Instructors: Abisaab, Rula (Fall)
Fall
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ISLA 355 Modern History of the Middle East (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : Assessment of the historical transformation of the modern Middle East concentrating on its internal socio-economic changes, as well as the colonial experience and encounters with the West since the early 19th century. Examination of the historical conditions that led to the rise of nationalism, the nation-state, the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Prerequisite: ISLA 210 or permission of instructor.
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ISLA 360 Islam and Politics (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : Assessment of the relationship between Islam and politics in the contemporary Middle East and Africa through various analytic themes, including political economy, social movement and gendered analysis.
Terms: Fall 2013
Instructors: Medani, Khalid; Anzalone, Christopher (Fall)
Fall
Prerequisite: ISLA 210 or permission of instructor.
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ISLA 365 Middle East Since the 1970's (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : Changes that have occurred in the Middle East since the 1970's, viewed through the lens of themes such as migration, consumerism, war, communications, and ideology.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Prerequisite: ISLA 210 or permission of instructor.
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ISLA 370 The Qur’an: History and Interpretation (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : It examines the history of the codification of the text, its form, and modes of interpretation in both the modern and pre-modern periods. Presentation of different schools of Qur’anic exegesis, including traditional hermeneutical approaches, and modern approaches such as feminist interpretations of the Qur’Än.
Terms: Fall 2013
Instructors: Ibrahim, Ahmed (Fall)
Prerequisite(s): ISLA 200 or permission of instructor
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ISLA 380 Islamic Philosophy and Theology (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : A survey of the most important philosophers and theologians in Islamic intellectual history, with a focus on the theories they articulated and the movements they engendered. The impact of European thought on 19th and 20th century Islamic intellectual history is also examined.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Prerequisite: ISLA 200 or permission of instructor.
Note: Reading and discussion in English.
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ISLA 383 Central Questions in Islamic Law (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : An integrative view of Islamic law in the past and present, including landmarks in Islamic legal history (e.g., sources of law; early formation; intellectual make-up; the workings of court; legal change; legal effects of colonialism; modernity and legal reform) and a structured definition of what it was/is.
Terms: Winter 2014
Instructors: Ibrahim, Ahmed (Winter)
Winter
Prerequisite: ISLA 200 or permission of instructor.
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ISLA 385 Poetics & Politics in Arabic Literature (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : Major issues in classical and modern Arabic literature; how poetics and politics interact in classical and modern, popular folktales and high literature, novels and poetry. The politics of translation from Arabic into English.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Prerequisite: ISLA 210 or permission of instructor.
Note: Reading and discussion in English.
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ISLA 388 Persian Literature (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : Examination of literature produced in the Persian-speaking world from the mid 10th to the late 20th century C.E. A broad selection of texts (prose and poetry) will be studied in translation.
Terms: Winter 2014
Instructors: Keshavmurthy, Prashant (Winter)
Fall
Prerequisite: ISLA 200 or permission of instructor.
Note: Readings in English.
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ISLA 392 Arabic Literature as World Literature (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : Consideration of Arabic literature as part of world literature, including exploration of tensions between reading Arabic literature as local, discrete and self-contained and as part of larger global phenomena.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Winter
Prerequisite: ISLA 210 or permission of instructor.
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ISLA 415 Modern Iran: Anthropological Approach (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : The modern history, social, and cultural anthropology of contemporary Iran.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Prerequisite: ISLA 210 or permission of instructor.
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ISLA 420 Indo-Islamic Civilization: Medieval (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : The rise of Islam in South Asia in the 8th Century and its subsequent expansion; evolution of Indo-Islamic civilization and its apogee during Mughal rule up to 1707. Themes include state and religion; ruling institutions; political theory, Sufism and the process of conversion, as well as the formation of a composite culture.
Terms: Fall 2013
Instructors: Keshavmurthy, Prashant (Fall)
Winter
Prerequisite: ISLA 200 or permission of instructor.
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ISLA 421 Islam in South Asia: 1707 to Present (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : Eighteenth-century India after the "Great Mughals"; decentralization and turmoil in Delhi; rise of British colonialism and responses from Indian litterateurs and religious scholars; artistic developments; 1857 Rebellion to Independence and Partition; Muslims of modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka; political Islam and the War on Terror; Pakistani religious minorities.
Terms: Winter 2014
Instructors: Khan, Mohamad (Winter)
Prerequisite: ISLA 420 or permission of instructor.
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ISLA 511D1 History: Islamic Civilization - Mediaeval Era (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : The Seljuks, and the medieval synthesis. The Moors in Spain and North Africa. The Crusades. The Mongols and the destruction of the Baghdad Caliphate. The Mamluk, Persian, Turkish and Indian Empires until 1700.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013-2014 academic year.
3 hours
Students must register for both ISLA 511D1 and ISLA 511D2.
No credit will be given for this course unless both ISLA 511D1 and ISLA 511D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms
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ISLA 511D2 History: Islamic Civilization - Mediaeval Era (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : See ISLA 511D1 for course description.
Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Prerequisite: ISLA 511D1
No credit will be given for this course unless both ISLA 511D1 and ISLA 511D2 are successfully completed in consecutive terms
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ISLA 585 Arab Women's Literature (3 credits)
Overview
Islamic Studies : Explorations of writings by Arab women. Issues include: translation/reception, gender and genre, categories of knowledge about Arab women, feminist and post-colonial theories/methodologies.
Terms: Winter 2014
Instructors: Hartman, Michelle Laura (Winter)
Prerequisite: ISLA 392 or permission of instructor.
Note: Readings in English translation.