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History of Modern Iran (Sagha)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2022
This course examines the history, society, and politics of modern Iran beginning with the Qajar dynasty in the 19th century up until the contemporary period. It undertakes an interdisciplinary approach situating Iran in its regional and international context while simultaneously exploring Iranian civilizational and religious heritage and the domestic dynamics of state-society relations in modern Iranian history. The course also explores the role of Islamic clergy (ulema), the institution of Shi’a seminaries and clerical hierarchy (marja’iyya), and the emerging contestation... Read more about History of Modern Iran (Sagha)

Shi'a Islam and Politics (Sagha)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2022
From the conflict in Yemen pitting the Shi'a Houthis against a Saudi-led coalition, to the civil war in Syria and the Shi'a militia-led fight against ISIS in Iraq, dominant media narratives portray conflict in today's Middle East as part of a proxy battle between Iran and Saudi Arabia rooted in an ancient dispute within the Muslim world between the Shi'a and Sunni sects of Islam. In this rendering, primordial hatreds are driving religious wars and civil conflict with Iran, at the heart of the so-called Shi'a crescent, and Saudi Arabia, the stalwart of true Sunni identity. However, such... Read more about Shi'a Islam and Politics (Sagha)

GENED 1008 Power and Identity in the Middle East (Cammett)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2020
Why are some countries governed democratically while dictators seem to have a firm grasp on power in others? Why do people threaten and even kill each other in the name of ethnicity or religion in some places and times but not others? This course will give you a chance to explore these questions in the context of the Middle East, a region that has been widely perceived as a bastion of authoritarianism and a hotbed of ethnic and religious politics and political violence. In considering key questions and debates about politics, governance, and identity in the Middle East, you will develop a... Read more about GENED 1008 Power and Identity in the Middle East (Cammett)

RELIGION 22 Interpreting Humanity, Interpreting Religion (Boylston)

Semester: 

Spring

Offered: 

2020

This course is a gateway to the Study of Religion, presented against the backdrop of a larger question: What is the purpose of the humanities in the 21st century? 

Based on the premise that solely Eurocentric approaches to what it means to be human are shortsighted at best, we seek to think through new ways of engaging with global sources that shed light on our common humanity. The course develops around a critical engagement with the concept ‘transcendence’, which will help us to approach alternative worldviews without eliminating difference. 

After...

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Love, Sanctity and Authority: An Introduction to Shii Islam (Boylston)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2019
Though they are minority traditions often overlooked in the academy, the major branches of Shii Islam (Twelver, Ismaili and Zaydi) provide a valuable entry point into the study of those aspects of the Islamic tradition that are most constitutive and most contested. After examining the historical contexts in which these three branches arose, the course will address Shia theologies, rituals, law, spiritualities and notions of authority, comparing views across the three branches and highlighting their internal differences through history. We will inquire into what, if anything, unites the... Read more about Love, Sanctity and Authority: An Introduction to Shii Islam (Boylston)

HIST 2538/HLS 2538 Introduction to Islamic Law (Rabb)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2019

This course will survey core concepts of Islamic law (sharia) in historical and comparative modern contexts. Popular perceptions of this legal system imagine it to be a static code from 7th-century Arabia. Islamic law is in fact a dynamic legal tradition, with a rich history that reveals processes of "legislation" and interpretation analogous to our own. It also developed substantive rulings and out of institutional structures quite different from our own. Those laws and structures evolved over time, with notable changes accompanying the breakup of the Islamic empire in the 10th...

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GOV 94PY Revolution and Politics in Contemporary Iran (Mohseni)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2019
Iran is increasingly a significant power in the Middle East and a salient country to global affairs. Accordingly, this course examines the intricacies of Iranian politics since the 1979 revolution. It explores a broad range of topics including the causes of the Iranian revolution; the political implications of the Islamic regime's institutional architecture; the competitive factional dynamics within the ruling elite; Iranian foreign policy, Iran-US relations, and nuclear negotiations; and Shia political ideology.

GOV 94MCC Peace-Building: Approaches to Reducing Ethno-Religious Conflict (Cammett)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2019
Since the end of the Cold War, identity-based conflict has been on the rise. Many countries in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the Former Soviet Union have witnessed wars and conflict and riots that are ostensibly waged for ethnic or religious reasons. Even if they are not the root cause of these conflicts, such identities often become politically salient as a result of political violence targeting ethnic or religious “others” and, once activated, exhibit remarkable stickiness in social and political life. When intergroup tensions have ratcheted up, is... Read more about GOV 94MCC Peace-Building: Approaches to Reducing Ethno-Religious Conflict (Cammett)

GENED 1087/ HDS 3627 Multisensory Religion: Rethinking Islam Through the Arts (Asani)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2019

One need only walk into a church, a mosque, a temple, a synagogue or any place of worship to experience the complexity, beauty and aesthetic power of religion through the senses. For millions of believers the world over, their experience of religion is not only—or even primarily—dictated by ideological teachings; it is forged through personal and private experiences, very often sensory in nature and embedded in the arts broadly defined. These “silent” forms of religion—silent because we generally do not hear about them in the media or in political and social spaces—are centered on the...

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FRSEMR 37Y - Muslim Voices in Contemporary World Literatures (Asani)

Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2019
What do Muslims think of acts of terrorism committed in the name of Islam, the mixing of religion with politics, the rights of women, the ``West''? This seminar investigates the viewpoints of prominent Muslim writers on these and other ``hot button'' issues as reflected in novels, short stories and poetry from different parts of the world. Explores a range of issues facing Muslim communities in various parts of the world by examining the impact of colonialism, nationalism, globalization and politicization of Islam on the search for a modern Islamic identity. Readings of Muslim authors from the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Europe and America.