Admission requirements
Introduction to the Study of Islam.
Description
Since the twentieth century the world witnesses Islamist militancy and politics in Africa,
Asia, and the Near East. Parallel to these developments in Muslim-majority countries, Muslims in minority situations (in Europe, both Americas, but also India, China) are elaborating their views of Islam. Are these developments novel and unique to Islam, or can we discern trends that go back to the revivalism and reformism of the nineteenth and early twentieth century? In this course we will study and discuss the socio-political conditions and historic narratives which gave rise to these events, and we will also examine how Muslims are engaged socio-politically today. What are the contemporary trends notable within the Muslim communities, and how do its adherents and thinkers engage with the challenges this era offers or with the opportunities it produces? Case studies will be drawn globally with topics like green Islam, (bio)ethics, militant radicalism, Islamic state, Sharia, human rights, migration, feminism, and Muslim Futurism. This course will demonstrate that most of these trends can be explained in the context of Islam as a living tradition – a vibrant faith that is dynamically and continuously practiced, developed, and challenged.
This course is a seminar that requires active participation of the students: discussions about the course materials and topical issues are considered intrecate part of the learning process.
Course objectives
Knowledge: the course offers knowledge of a) the history of the most prominent Muslim figures and movements in modern Islamic thinking, b) a typology of modern trends, and c) the main topics and concepts of contemporary Islamic thought.
Creative Inquiry and Discovery: Students will gain insights into a) how Islam is a lived tradition, that is explored, understood, and shaped by its followers and b) in the diversity of thinkers and trends in Islamic thought.Global Consciousness: This course develops students’ senses of the interconnectivity and complexity of global systems and discourses, while attributing attention to how difference and locality impact modern projects. •** Social Awareness and Cultural Understanding**: Students will gain a working knowledge of the complexity of contemporary Islam and will come to understand how the notion of a Muslim is one that is configured, contested, and reimagined consistently throughout time.
Skills: The students will learn how to think through complex and political implications of linking theory and practice. The students will learn how to express their views and present complex issues by oral and written means.
Timetable
The timetables are available through My Timetable.
Mode of instruction
Seminar.
Assessment method
Assessement and weighing
10% - Weekly Discussion Posts
Every week, the student hands in a reflection on the readings by posting 3 annotated questions about the week's required reading. Of the twelve weeks, the ten highest grades will be calculated: this means that the student may miss, skip or fail a maximum of two assignments (NB: justified absences like sickness will also count as one of the two permitted missed assignments).
30%- Midterm Paper: Critical Reflection
The student will write an analytical review of the literature discussed in the first six weeks.
60% - Final Essay: Research Project
For the final essay, the student chooses one of the topics discussed during the seminar and provides a deep-dive study by linking the literature to a case-study found within the Islamic world today.
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
If the weighted grade is 5.49 or lower, only the Final Essay can be redone, and a new weightened grade will be calculated.
Inspection and feedback
If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will be organized.
Reading list
All readings can be found through the Leiden Library.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website
Registration Studeren à la carte en Contractonderwijs
Registration Contractonderwijs.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the information bar on the right.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office Herta Mohr
Remarks
Please note that the additional course information is an integral part of this course description.