ISLAM AND THE WEST - IRS367/IRS667 Spring 2021
Course

Lessons
Here is the course outline:
1. Introduction to ‘Islam and the West’
Feb 08
Go over syllabus and course requirements. Discussion of the terminology, definitions, and paradigms that are relevant for the study of ‘Islam and the West.’ Discuss how to sign up for student presentations. |
2. The Emergence and Spread of Islam
Feb 15
Features of the Arab peninsula prior to the advent of Islam, the life of Islam’s prophet Mohammed through the first three centuries of the religion’s spread. |
3. The Crusades
Feb 22
Multiple perceptions of the Crusades, their social, economic, political, and relations between the "Islamicate World" and the "West." |
4. The Renaissance
Mar 01
Cultural and Scientific Exchanges. The impact of European geographical expansion on global dynamics and the Islamicate world. |
5. Early-Modern Renegades
Mar 08
Individual migration and conversion in the early modern period. Cultural exchanges and expectations, perceptions, and experiences of those traversing the borders between Islamicate world and Europe. |
6. The Age of Revolutions
Mar 15
Comparative summary and analysis of events transpiring in the Islamicate world from the post-classical age through the Age of Revolutions. |
7. At the Dawn of the Nineteenth Century
Mar 22
Challenges faced by the Islamicate world in the years immediately preceding and following Napoleon's invasion of Egypt. |
8. Mid-Term Exam.
Mar 29
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9. European Imperialism and Modernity
Apr 12
A deliberation of the concepts of modernization and westernization in the nineteenth century Islamicate world. Institutional changes and cultural negotiations. |
10. Nations and Nationalism
Apr 26
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11. Intellectuals without Borders
Apr 26
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12. Identity and Mobility
May 03
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13. The Road to War and the Mandate Period
May 10
The Great War, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, and the making of the Modern Middle East. |
14. Islam, the West, and the Media
May 17
Contemporary media representations of Islam and Muslims and whether or not they perpetuate assumptions of civilizational dichotomies. |