ANTH 5404 Understanding Islam Fall Term, Academic Year

Transcription

1 ANTH 5404 Understanding Islam Fall Term, Academic Year Lecture Time: Monday 16:30-18:15 Tutorial: Monday 18:30 19:15 Lecturer: Dr Paul O Connor (paul.oconnor@cuhk.edu.hk) Classroom: Humanities Building - 12 Teaching Assistant: Rao Yichen Course Description This class begins its study of Islam by examining the historical developments of Islam in pre-islamic Arabia and looking at the life of various religious figures. It then examines aspects of Islamic civilization, culture and philosophy. Finally it addresses issues of the so-called politicization of religion in the context of globalizing modernity and violent conflict. Throughout this course we will investigate the insights that anthropological analyses can offer to discussions centering the relations between Muslim societies and the West. Course Objectives Students will appreciate the contemporary cultural diversity, values and world views of Muslims living in diverse circumstances and places Understand the contemporary struggles over religious authority and orthodoxy in some parts of the Muslim world Understand the tensions and potential conflicts between religious ideas and practices relating to gender, education and art Be able to challenge and think critically about stereotypes about Muslims and Islam Medium of Instruction - English Course Assessment Assessment Mark Percentage Word length/ duration Due Date Class/Tutorial Participation & Oral Presentation 10% Weekly Participation On-going Class Project 10% Halal Project 17 November Take-home exam 40% 3,000 words 27 October Research Essay 40% 3,000 words 8 December

2 Class Tutorial Participation and Oral Presentation (10%) This is an ongoing weekly assessment and is based on the involvement of students in class discussion and at oral presentations. Students are encouraged to make thoughtful insights on the class readings and lectures. Making connections between materials, synthesising the arguments of different theorists, and using current affairs examples are the highest objective of this component. Class Project (10%) Students will be given a short project on halal food to work on collaboratively and asked to present as a group in tutorial session week 12 (17 th November). More information will be provided at the start of the course. The project will be presented as an oral report and debate. Take Home Exam (40%) You will have 2 weeks to complete 3 questions that draw on the lecture and readings from weeks 1-6. The take home exam should be 3,000 words in length. The Questions will be provided on Week 7 s (13th October) lecture and the exam is due on Monday the 27 th of October. Answers should be in essay format and include academic references. Research Essay (40%) Students are required to write a 3,000 word research paper on the close reading of a topic from lectures week 7 to 13. It should include a research question and reference to scholarly work. Students must demonstrate that they have read and researched the topic and articulate a critical position. All papers must conform with the department s citation style (available on Blackboard Course Content) and be in an essay form (introduction, body, conclusion). The research essay is due on the 8th of December. You can hand it in to your lecturer or in the Department of Anthropology. Plagiarism Students are required by university policy to submit all papers to VeriGuide (the Chinese University Plagiarism Identification Engine System). Please check the website for more information on how to submit papers through VeriGuide. Recommended Text All readings are available through the University online, or on reserve at the library. Many of the weekly readings come from Bowen which is also available from the University Book Shop. Bowen, John R., A New Anthropology of Islam, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012).

3 Students are expected to have read the required reading before each lecture. This will facilitate class discussion and student participation. Optional readings are for students interested in deepening their knowledge. They are also useful guides for students when focussing on their research essay in a particular topic. Overview Week 1 (1 st September) Introduction: The Pilgrimage to Mecca Week 2 (8 th September) Thinking Anthropologically about Islam Week 3 (15 th September) Fieldtrip Week 4 (22 nd September) The Life of Muhammad Week 5 (29 th September) Learning to be Muslim Week 6 (6 th October) Worship and Ritual Week 7 (13 th October) Islam in Hong Kong Week 8 (20 th October) Mid Term Reading Week (No Class) Week 9 (27 th October) Muslims as Minorities Week 10 (3 rd November) Women in Muslim Societies Week 11 (10 th November) Jihad Week 12 (17 th November) Terror and Media Week 13 (24 th November) Conclusion: Islam in the World Schedule of Reading (includes some suggested reading order) Week 1 ( 1st September) Introduction: The Pilgrimage to Mecca 1) Ruthven, Malise, Islam in the World (London: Penguin Books, 1991), pp ) O Connor, Paul, Hong Kong Muslims on Hajj: Rhythms of the Pilgrimage 2.0 and Experiences of Spirituality amongst 21 st Century Global Cities, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 34 (3) ) Cooper, Barbara M., The Strength in Song: Muslim personhood, audible capital, and Hausa women s performance of the Hajj, in The Anthropology of Islam Reader, ed. by Jens Kreinath (New York: Routledge, 2012), pp Tutorial - Introductions Week 2 ( 8 th September) Thinking Anthropologically about Islam 2) Asad, Talal, The Idea of an Anthropology of Islam, in The Anthropology of Islam Reader, ed. by Jens Kreinath (New York: Routledge, 2012), pp ) Bowen, John R., A New Anthropology of Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012). Chapter 1, How to think about religions Islam, for example, pp Tutorial Discussion of Cooper Reading From Week 1. - What is the relevance of song? What are the values of having made Hajj? Week 3 ( 15 th September) Fieldtrip to Kowloon Mosque

4 Bowen, John R., A New Anthropology of Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012). Chapter 5, Healing and Praying, pp No Tutorial Week 4 ( 22 nd September) The Life of Muhammad Ishaq, Ibn, The life of Muhammad: apostle of Allah, ed. by Michael Edwards (London: The Folio Society, 1964), pp Lapidus, Ira, A history of Islamic societies (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988). Chapter 2, The life of the Prophet, pp Tutorial How to think about Islam Students must prepare reflections on approaching Islam as a topic of study. How does the story of the Prophet Muhammad help us understand Islam? What impressions do you have of pre-islamic Arabia? Week 5 (29 th September) Learning to be Muslim Berkey, Jonathan P., Madrasas Medieval and Modern: Politics, Education, and the Problem of Muslim Identity, in Schooling Islam: The Culture and Politics of Modern Muslim Education, ed. by Robert W. Hefner and Muhammad Qasim Zaman (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007), pp Bowen, John R., A New Anthropology of Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012). Chapter 2, Learning, pp Tutorial Bowen Chapter 2 discussion How is Islam taught? What emphasis can we observe? Week 6 (6 th October) Worship and Ritual Bowen, John R., A New Anthropology of Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012). Chapter 3, Perfecting Piety through Worship, pp AND Chapter 4, Reshaping Sacrifice, pp Tutorial Piety What does piety signal? Why is ritual important for communicating commitment to religion. Call on insights from both of this week s readings. Week 7 (13 th October) Islam in Hong Kong Ho, Wai-yip. Historical analysis of Islamic community development in Hong Kong: Struggle for recognition in the post-colonial era, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, vol. 21, no. 1, pp O Connor, Paul, Islam in Hong Kong: Muslims and Everyday Life in China s World City (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2012), pp & Tutorial The significance of Hong Kong s Mosques old and new

5 Referring to Ho s reading what arguments does he make about Hong Kong s mosques, history, and attitudes to Islam in the territory. Week 8 (20 th October) Mid-term Reading Week (No Class) No Tutorial Week 9 (27 th October) Muslim Minorities Pillsbury, Barbara.. Pig and policy: Maintenance of boundaries between Han and Muslim Chinese. In Minorities: A Text With Readings in Intergroup Relations, ed. by B. Eugene Griessman, Hinsdale: Dryden Press pp Lewis, Philip, Young, British and Muslim (London: Continuum, 2007), pp Tutorial Minorities Students must find and bring a newspaper cutting, or news site printout to tutorial for discussion about Muslims as minorities. Your new item should refer to a story in which Muslims are present as minorities in a country. Week 10 (3 rd November) Women in Muslim Societies Abu Lughod, L. Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others, American Anthropologist, 2002, 104(3), pp Eltahawy, Mona, Why do they hate us?, Foreign Policy, 193, Hussain, Amir, Oil and water: Two faiths: One God (Kelowna: Copper House, 2006). Chapter 7, Roles of Women and Men, pp Tutorial Class discussion Is Islam bad for women? Is the modern world bad for Muslim women? Is the Qur an fair to the sexes? Do Islamic cultures reinforce patriarchy and marginalize women? Week 11 (10 th November) Jihad Bowen, John R., A New Anthropology of Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012). Chapter 9, Mobilizing, pp Cook, David, Understanding Jihad (Berkley: University of California Press). pp Tutorial Jihad and Globalization Discussion of short article available on Blackboard. Week 12 (17 th November) Terror and Media Halliday, Fred, Islam and the myth of confrontation: Religion and politics in the Middle East (London: I.B. Tauris, 1995), pp

6 Said, Edward, Covering Islam: How the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world, in The Anthropology of Islam Reader, ed. by Jens Kreinath (New York: Routledge, 2012), pp Tutorial Project Presentations Present short work on Halal food in Hong Kong Week 13 (24 th November) Conclusion: Islam in the World Browse and read news reports from the Guardian Middle East Section. ( LeVine, Mark, Heavy Metal Muslims: The rise of a post-islamist public sphere, in Whatever happened to all the Islamists, ed. by Amel Boubekeur and Olivier Roy (London: Hurst and Company, 2012), pp Tapper, Richard, Islamic anthropology and anthropology of Islam, in The Anthropology of Islam Reader, ed. by Jens Kreinath (New York: Routledge, 2012), pp Tutorial What does anthropology tell us about Islam and current affairs? Further Reading on Covered Topics General Ruthven Malise, Islam: A very short introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) The Pilgrimage O Connor, Paul., The Modern Hajj: Themes of modernity, the Saudi State, international pilgrims, and the British experience (Saarbrucken: LAP Lambert, 2010), pp Scupin, Raymond., The social significance of the hajj for Thai Muslims, in The Anthropology of Islam Reader, ed. by Jens Kreinath (New York: Routledge, 2012), pp Wolfe, Michael, One thousand roads to Mecca: Ten centuries of travellers writing about the Muslim pilgrimage (New York: Grove Press, 1997). Thinking Anthropologically about Islam Geertz, Clifford, Islam observed: Religious development in Morocco and Indonesia (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971) Lindholm, Charles,The Islamic Middle East: An historical anthropology (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996). Chapter 9, The essentials of Islam. pp The Life of Muhammad Armstrong, Karen, Muhammad: a biography of the prophet (London: Phoenix, 2001). Brown, Jonathan A.C., Muhammad: a very short introduction (Oxford: Oxford

7 University Press, 2011). Ishaq, Ibn, The life of Muhammad: apostle of Allah, ed. by Michael Edwards (London: The Folio Society, 1964). Rodinson, Maxime, Mohammed (London: Penguin, 1968). Learning to be Muslim Hefner, Robert W. and Muhammad Qasim Zaman (eds), Schooling Islam: The culture and politics of modern Muslim education (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007). Noor, Farish A., Yoginder Sikand, and Martin van Bruinessen (eds), The Madrasa in Asia: Political Activism and Transnational Linkages (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press) O Connor, Paul, Islam in Hong Kong: Muslims and everyday life in China s world city (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2012). Chapter 5, Learning to be Muslim, pp Worship and Ritual Bowen, John R., A new anthropology of Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012). Chapter 4, Reshaping Sacrifice, pp Mahmood, Saba, Rehearsed spontaneity and the conventionality of ritual: Disciplines of Salat, in The anthropology of Islam reader, ed. by Jens Kreinath (New York: Routledge, 2012), pp O Connor, Paul, Islam in Hong Kong: Muslims and everyday life in China s world city (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2012). Chapter 5, Daily Practice, pp Schielke, Samuli, Being good in Ramadan: Ambivalence, fragmentation, and the moral self in the lives of young Egyptians, in The Anthropology of Islam Reader, ed. by Jens Kreinath (New York: Routledge, 2012), pp Islam in Hong Kong Hawwa, Sithi, From cross to crescent: Religious conversion of Filipina domestic helpers in Hong Kong, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, 2000, 11, pp Ho, Wai-yip. Historical analysis of Islamic community development in Hong Kong: Struggle for recognition in the post-colonial era, Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, vol. 21, no. 1, pp O Connor, Paul, Islam in Hong Kong: Muslims and everyday life in China s world city (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2012). Plüss, Caroline, Hong Kong s Muslim organisations: Creating and expressing collective identities China Perspectives, 2000, 29 pp Muslim Minorities

8 Abusharaf, Rogaia Mustafa, Structural adaptation in an immigrant Muslim congregation in New York, in Gatherings in diaspora: Religious communities and the new immigration, ed. By R. Stephen Warner and Judith G. Wittner (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1998), Gillette, Maris Boyd, Between Mecca and Beijing: Modernization and consumption among urban Chinese Muslims (Stanford: Stanford University Press: 2000). Gladney, Dru C., Dislocation China: Muslims, minorities, and other subaltern subjects (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004). Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck (ed), Muslims in the West: From sojourners to citizens (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002). Lewis, Philip, Being Muslim and being British, in Desh pardesh: The South Asian presence in Britain, ed. By Roger Ballard (London: Hurst and Company, 1994), pp Pillsbury, Barbara.. Pig and policy: Maintenance of boundaries between Han and Muslim Chinese. In Minorities: A Text With Readings in Intergroup Relations, ed. by B. Eugene Griessman, Hinsdale: Dryden Press pp Women and Muslim Societies Franks, MyFanwy, Crossing the borders of whiteness? White Muslim women who wear the hijab in Britain today, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2000, 23, pp Jacobson, David, Of virgins and martyrs: Women and sexuality in global conflict (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2013), pp Jihad Hussain, Amir, Oil and water: Two faiths: One God (Kelowna: Copper House, 2006). Chapter 6, Violence and Jihad, pp Cook, David, Understanding Jihad (Berkley: University of California Press). Terror and Media Halliday, Fred, Islam and the myth of confrontation: Religion and politics in the Middle East (London: I.B. Tauris, 1995), pp Varisco, Daneil, Islam obscured: The rhetoric of anthropological representation, in The Anthropology of Islam Reader, ed. by Jens Kreinath (New York: Routledge, 2012), pp Islam in the world Allievi, Stefano, and Jørgen Nielsen, Muslim networks and transnational communities in and across Europe (Leiden: Brill, 2003). Choueiri, Youssed M. Islamic Fundamentalism (London: Pinter, 1997).