THE CENTER FOR ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES The University of Texas at Austin Spring 2012 SYLLABUS MUSLIMS IN AMERICA: COMMUNITY, NATION, REPRESENTATION AAS 310 (35835)/ ISL 311(UNIQUE)/ RS 316K (UNIQUE)/WGS 301 (UNIQUE) Office Hours: TBA & by appointment Phone;TBA Mondays and Wednesday 2-3:30 PM PAR 105 INSTRUCTOR Alisa Perkins EMAIL: alisaperkins@gmail.com Office Location: TBA Course website http://courses.utexas.edu (Blackboard) COURSE DESCRIPTION In this class, we will explore the significance of being Muslim in America. With regard to ethnic composition, class status, and political affiliation, American Muslims make up the most diverse religious group in the United States today. By focusing on South Asian, Arab, and African American Muslims in comparative and historical perspective, we will deepen our understanding of the diversity and commonalities that characterize this group. A second major theme in this class will be to understand how the events of 9/11, and the subsequent war against terror have impacted the experiences and representation of Muslims in America. In doing so, we will investigate the historical legacies of contemporary Islamophobic attitudes, policies, and practices. We will pay particular attention to the ways in which Muslims in America have continued to make space for themselves and their modes of religious expression in the American public square despite, and in dialogue with, this challenging history. Class materials will include current events articles and newscasts, fictional and autobiographical accounts, ethnographic, historical, and political science texts, plus as series of films about Muslims in America. COURSE REQUIREMENTS Attendance and absentee policy: In order to succeed in this class you must attend class regularly and keep up with readings. Success in this course depends on attendance and class participation. Attendance is taken at every class meeting, and a pattern of absence will result in a lowered class grade. Absences may be excused in the event of illness or extreme circumstances, but you must email me in advance in the case of missed classes, and documentation must be provided. Evaluation: There will be two quizzes, a mid-term and a final exam. The mid-term will be inclass, consisting of short answers and briefs essay based on the topics covered in the readings, lectures, and films. The final will be a take-home exam and you will be asked to answer two questions in essays of 2-3 pages each.
Perkins Page 2 of 6 In addition, each student will also be responsible for preparing three brief reflection papers (2-3 pages each). Finally, students will participate in two group presentations on course readings or sets of readings during the semester. Guidelines for preparing these presentations will be handed out at the beginning of the semester. Grading will be based on the following factors: Quizzes: Mid term: Final exam: Attendance and Participation: Group Presentations: Reflection Papers: 10 points 20 points 20 points 15 points 20 points 15 points Readings are available in a course packet available at the University Copy Services. OTHER BUSINESS Students with disabilities. In line with University of Texas at Austin policy, students in this class will be provided with accommodations for any documented disabilities that would affect performance on any assignment. For more information, and to certify your needs, please contact student services at: Phone: 471-6259 Video Phone: (866) 329-3986 (http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddcd/ssd/). Religious holidays. Students who need to miss a class due to a religious holy day will not be penalized for their absences. However, this requires that you notify me at least 14 days prior to your absence, in line with the University of Texas at Austin policy. For religious holidays falling within the first two weeks of the semester, notice should be given on the first day of the semester, or as soon as you have added the class. Students are required to make up any work due for that class within a reasonable time after the absence. Academic integrity. Rules on plagiarism will be enforced in this class (see: http://registrar.utexas.edu/catalogs/gi09-10/app/gi09.appc03.html, especially Sec 11-802). Plagiarism refers to any case of students presenting any one else s work as if it were there own. Plagiarism results in automatic failure in the class. Please familiarize yourself with the University Honor Code, which states: The core values of the University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery, freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of the University is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust, fairness, and respect toward peers and community. SCHEDULE OF TOPICS, READINGS, AND ASSIGNMENTS Introduction Wed 1/18: Overview of class themes and policies
Perkins Page 3 of 6 Mon 1/23 Smith, J. 2010. Muslim Faith and Practice, and Islam Comes to America. In Islam in America, pages 1-23 & 51-78. Wed 1/25 Cainkar, L. 2009. Introduction and Whose Homeland Security? In Homeland Insecurity: The Arab American and Muslim American Experience After 9/11. Pages 1-22 & 110-153. Unit One: Orientalism and the War on Terror Mon 1/30 Said, E. 2000 [1978] Orientalism, in Edward Said Reader, pages 63-113. Wed 2/1 Cainkar, L. The Social Construction of the Arab (and Muslim) American. In Homeland Insecurity, pages 64-110 Patai, R. 2002. Excerpt, The Arab Mind. FBI Orientalist Powerpoint Mon 2/6 Mamdani, M. 2002 Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: A Political Perspective on Culture and Terrorism. American Anthropologist, 104 (3) 766-775 Cainkar, L. 2009 Gendered Nativism, Boundary Setting, and Cultural Sniping: Women as Embodiments of the Perceived Cultural Threat of Islam, In Homeland Insecurity, pages 229-262 Wednesday 2/8: Bilici, M. 2010. Muslim Ethnic Comedy: Inversions of Islamophobia, pages 195-208 In Islamophobia/Islamophilia View in-class: Allah Made me Funny [videorecording] Quiz: In Class Unit Two: African American Islam Mon 2/13 Smith J. 2010. Islam in the African American Community, in Islam in America, pages 78-104 Kepel, G. 1997. In the Wilderness of North America, Allah in the West, pages 1-33 Wed 2/15 Kepel, G. 1997. The Three Lives of Malcolm X, and Farrakhan and the Looking Glass of North America. In Allah in the West, pages 33-78 Mon 2/20
Perkins Page 4 of 6 Curtis, E. Wallace D. Muhammad: Sunni Islamic Reform, and the Coming Problem of Particularism, and Toward and Islam for One People and Many, In Islam in Black America: Identity, Liberation, and Difference in African American Islamic Thought, pages107-140. Dannin, R. Islands in a Sea of Ignorance: Dimensions of the Prison Mosque. In Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe, pages 131-146. Wed 2/22 View in Class: Malcolm X: His Own Story as it Really Happened [1995, Videorecording] Quiz #2 Unit Three: Race and Religious Identity Mon 2/27 Naber, N. 2008. Arab Americans and U.S. Racial Formations. In Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11: From Invisible Citizens to Visible Subjects. Pages 1-45. First Reflection Piece Due Wed 2/29 Shryock, A. 2008. The Moral Analogies of Race: Arab American Identity, Color Politics, and the Limits of Racialized Citizenship. In Race and Arab Americans Before and After 9/11: From Invisible Citizens to Visible Subjects. Pages 81-113. Mon 3/5 Karim, J. 2009. African American and Immigrant Relations: Between Inequality of Global Flows and Race, Class, and Residence in the Chicago Ummah: Ethnic Muslim Spaces and American Muslim Discourses. In American Muslim Women: Negotiating Race, Class, and Gender within the Ummah. Pages 25-88 Wed 3/7 In Class: Midterm Spring Break Unit Four: Cultural Citizenship Mon 3/19 Maira, S. 2008. Citizenship, Dissent, Empire; South Asian Muslim Immigrant Youth. In Being and Belonging: Muslims in the United States since 9/11. Pages 15-46. Wed 3/21 Bayoumi, M. 2008. Preface, Yasmine, & Akram In How Does it Feel to be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab American, pages 1-12, 81-149. View in Class: Fordson: Faith, Fasting, Football [Videorecording, 2011, 92 mins]
Perkins Page 5 of 6 Mon 3/26 Bayoumi, M. 2008. Sami, Omar & Rami In How Does it Feel to be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab American, pages 81-148; 187-258. Wed 3/28 Shryock, A. 2004 In the Double Remoteness of Arab Detroit: Reflections on Ethnography, Culture Work, and the Intimate Disciplines of Americanization, In Off Stage/On Display: Intimacy and Ethnography in the Age of Public Culture, pages 280-314. Mon 4/4 Howell, S. & A. Jamal 2008. Detroit Exceptionalism and the Limits of Political Incorporation, In Being and Belonging: Muslims in the United States since 9/11, pages 47-79. Cainkar, L. 2009. Hate Acts, Local Mobilizations, and The Crisis Point, and Conclusion In Homeland Insecurity: The Arab American and Muslim American Experience After 9/11. Pages 190-228; 263-279. Second Reflection Piece Due Unit Five: Islam and Gender Mon 4/9 Mahmood, S. (2001) Feminist Theory, Embodiment and the Docile Agent: Some Reflections on the Egyptian Islamic Revival. Cultural Anthropology, 16(2) 202-236. Wed 4/11 Karim, J. 2009. Across Ethnic Boundaries: Women s Movement and Resistance in the Chicago Ummah, & Negotiating Gender Lines: Women s Movement Across Atlanta Mosques, In American Muslim Women, Negotiating Race, Class and Gender within the Ummah, pages 89-124, and 163-205. Mon 4/16 Abu Laban, S. Family and Religion among Muslim Immigrants and Their Descendants, In Muslim Families in North America, pages 6-31 Qureshi, S. The Muslim Family: The Scriptural Framework, In Muslim Families in North America, pages 32-67 Wed 4/18 Lo, Mbaye & Aziz Taimoor 2009. Muslim Marriage Goes Online: The Use of Internet Matchmaking by American Muslims. Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, 21(3). View in Class: Arranged [Videorecording, 2008] Wed 4/23:
Perkins Page 6 of 6 Safi, Omid. 2003. Introduction. In: Progressive Muslims:On Gender, Justice, and Pluralism, Azam, Hina A Critique of the Argument for Women-led Friday Prayers. From www.altmulslim.com Abdunnur, Prado About the Friday Prayer Led By Amina Wadud Safi, Louay. Islam s Encounter with American Culture: Making Sense of the Progressive Muslim Agenda Third Reflection Piece Due Mon 4/25 Kugel, S. 2010 Islam on Trial: A Case Study & Liberating Quran: Islamic Scripture. In: Homosexuality in Islam: Critical Reflections on Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Muslims. Page 15-72 Wed 4/30 Massad. J. 2002. Re-Orienting Desire: The Gay International and the Arab World. Public Culture 14(2) 36-385 View in class: Documentary: I Exist [Videorecording 2005] Mon 5/2 Final Review (Last Class)