www. Study of Islam .org

Modern Islamic Civilization

by Dr. Omid Safi, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

In addition to the lecture times, each student will sign up for a recitation session below, with one of the TAs. Your attendance and participation in the recitations will be crucial parts of your grade. Your discussion in these sections and your book reports on each book will count towards the 25% of your grade that makes up the class participation. 

Few classroom rules (some rational, others idiosyncratic):
*NO laptops will be used for note-taking in the lecture auditorium.  
*Cell phones must be turned off.
*Upon arriving in the auditorium, fill the seats in the front of the class first.
*Absolutely no emailing/chatting/web-browsing in the class. 
*Eating in recitation class is fine, especially if you are willing to share.  The auditorium has a “no food, no drink” policy.

*I am a firm believer in the classroom being a community, and doing everything possible to foster a sense of a learning community in and out of the classroom. We might have—and probably will have—firm disagreements, and that is fine and good. Informed opinions are always welcome. By informed I mean that your opinions must reference class-assigned readings and discussions, rather just “mouthing off.”   Above all else, I hold myself—and you—to the standard of creating an environment in which we can firmly and politely agree or disagree with one another without belittling one another or creating a hostile learning environment.

Prerequisite: None required.
Students with no background in Islam may wish to browse an additional text, introducing them to the basic tenets of Islam in the first few weeks of the course.  A good possibility is Jamal Elias, Islam. Also, you should make ample use of the website: http://www.uga.edu/islam/

Grade to be based on:
This is not a class for passive listeners. The class will be conducted in a lecture + discussion format.
Almost every day we will be analyzing and discussing the readings. Our aim is to decipher their rhetoric, and understand their argument vis-à-vis other positions. It will be impossible for you to participate in the discussions if you have not done the readings before coming to class. This will hurt your class participation grade. You’ll be asked to submit reflections on the readings every day in class.  If you do not attend class, your participation grade will suffer. Without a strong class participation grade, it’ll be impossible for you to earn anything higher than a C.
The assignments are due on the days that have been identified, and turning them in late will lead to a deduction in your grade.

Here are the standards for each grade:
A - Superb, Excellent. You have demonstrated an ability to offer original and insightful analysis of the facts. Your essay must have a clearly identifiable thesis, the thesis must make use of scholarly points to support itself, it must take a position that can be argued for or against, anticipate objections, and respond persuasively.  
B - Solid Work. The facts have been grasped, and significant moves have been made to interpret the material in an analytical fashion. The majority of “good” papers usually fall in this range.
C - The student has made a reasonable attempt to engage the readings, and has a fair grasp of the factual material presented. The analysis of these facts, and an attempt to contribute towards an original interpretation, however, is severely missing.
D - A simplistic familiarity with the subject matter can be gleamed through the assignments which have been turned in.
F - A disappointment—no attempt being shown on the behalf of the student to engage the material, to respect the parameters of the class and its schedule, or the turning in of assignments.

A note on "Talking points" and Class participation:
This course can only be successful if we have daily, active discussions. That will only happen if you have spent time before coming to class pondering over the readings. To aid you in this, you are asked to bring a focused "talking point" to our discussion through the blackboard postings. I will ask you to post your comments by about 10 pm the night before each class, to give me time to read them. Also, respond to the question of another student in class.
I leave it up to you to decide how you will engage the text in your talking point:
*reflect on an idea you found interesting or intriguing in the readings,
*discuss who the various readings complement or differ from one another,
*explore the implications of a particular idea,
*compare to another work we've studied,
*trace how the work speaks to a theme we encountered earlier.
Then, for each book you’ll write up a review/analysis that you’ll bring to the Sections with the TAS.   We’ll go over these at a later point.

Breakdown of Grades:
"Talking points"/Reviews plus in-class ACTIVE discussion 25%
Map exercise 5%
Midterm:    35%
Final exam 35%

The Honor Code:
All the assignments for this course will be conducted as a take-home, open-note, and open-book variety. That calls for an even more important observance of the honor code. Plagiarism and “collaboration” (a.k.a. cheating) on take-home assignments will result in an “F” grade on the assignment, and sanctions under the honor code.  I expect all the students to abide by the honor code regulations at UNC. The following paragraph is courtesy of http://honor.unc.edu/honor/code.html, and I invite you to familiarize yourself:

"About the Honor Code: The Honor Code is the heart of integrity here at Carolina. In brief, the Honor Code says that all students shall "Refrain from lying, cheating, or stealing," but the Honor Code means much more. It is the guiding force behind the students' responsible exercise of freedom, the foundation of student self-governance here at UNC-Chapel Hill. The University maintains an Honor Code because we believe that all members of our community should be responsible for upholding the values that have been agreed upon by the community. A written Honor Code is an affirmation of our commitment to high standards of conduct inside and outside of the classroom. It is a document to be proud of because the Honor Code belongs to all of us as much as the Bell, the Well, or our excellence in athletics!

The Honor Code is found in a document known as the Instrument of Student Judicial Governance. The Instrument is the University's official statement of the rules and regulations that guide the Honor System. The list of prohibited conduct and the possible sanctions given by the Honor Court can all be found in the Instrument. This document also includes information on the rights and responsibilities of all members of our community to the Honor System and under the Honor System."

Books:
Readings for Islamic Civ, modern, Religion 181

1) Middle East and Islamic World Reader, edited by Marvin E.
Gettleman and Stuart Schaar Grove Press. ISBN: 0-8021-3936-1

2) Ziauddin Sardar, Desperately Seeking Paradise. 
Publisher: Granta UK; New Ed edition (June 1, 2005)

3) My Name is Red, orhan Pamuk
Publisher: Vintage; Reprint edition, ISBN: 0375706852

4) A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples
Publisher: Cambridge University Press; ISBN: 0521556325

5) Roy Mottahedeh, Mantle of the Prophet
Publisher: Oneworld Publications; New Ed edition, ISBN: 1851682341

6) Omid Safi, Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism.
Publisher: Oneworld Publications Ltd. ISBN: 185168316X

Schedule of Reading:

Thursday, January 10th:
[We are getting going immediately, so do these readings prior to class on Thursday.]
Read: Ziauddin Sardar, Desperately Seeking Paradise, 1-156.
Browse: Chapter 1, Gettleman and Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic World Reader
Chapter 2, Gettleman and Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic World Reader.

Tuesday, January 15th:
Ziauddin Sardar, Desperately Seeking Paradise, 156-344.

The case of the Ottoman Empire
Thursday, January 17th:
Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, 3-124

Tuesday, January 22rd:
Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, 125-306

*Architecture: Hagia Sophia & Sultan Ahmed Mosque:
Hagia Sophia
* http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=2966
And look at the images there, or better yet, check out this virtual tour:
http://www.kultur.gov.tr/tr/ayasofya/ayasofya.htm
or
http://e-turkey.net/v/istanbul_hagia_sophia/

The Sultan Ahmed complex, referred to in Turkish as the Sultanahmet Mosque, and by tourists as the “Blue Mosque.”

Look at:
http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=5271
and
http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=3006

*Devotional material to the Prophet:   read “Mevlud of Suleyman Chelebi” under the section titled Praise of the Prophet in the Ottoman Tradition under the Blackboard readings.

Thursday, January 24th:
Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red, 307-415

Architecture:   Suleymaniye complex, one of the masterpieces of Sinan:
http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.jsp?site_id=3004

From Ottoman Islamic Empire to Middle East
Tuesday, January 29th:
Chapter 3, Gettleman and Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic World Reader.
Focus:  Gulhane & Tanzimat, Jamal al-Din Afghani.  

Thursday, January 31st: 
Chapter 4, Gettleman and Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic World Reader.
Focus on Ataturk

The Veil as a modern discourse:
Tuesday, February 5th: 
Read:
“How not to rescue Muslim women”, by Shabana Mir

Section on “Dress” from Muslim Women’s League

An Islamic Perspective on Women's Dress

An Identity Reduced to Burka

A Request for Modest Clothing

Banning of Headscarves in Europe

French Ban on Hijab

To Veil or Not to Veil, that is the Question

Veil Returns in a Surge of Tradition

Women's Dress in Dangerous Times

read:  “For Multiculturalist Britain, Uncomfortable New Clothes”
and http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1890820,00.html
Listen to:  http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/muslimwomen/index.shtml

The Case of Palestine/Israel
Thursday, February 7th:
Ilan Pappe, A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples. Intro plus Chapters 1-2.
*Chapter V (Intro plus section 18, 19), Gettleman and Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic World Reader.

Tuesday, February 12th:
Ilan Pappe, A History of Modern Palestine.    Chapters 3, 4, 5
Chapter V (sections 20, 21), Gettleman and Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic World Reader.

Thursday, February 14th:
Ilan Pappe, A History of Modern Palestine. Chapters 6-end of the book

Tuesday, February 19th:
Chapter V (sections 22-26), Gettleman and Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic World Reader.
Chris Hedges (NY Times), "A Gaza Diary",
Developments up until today.

Listen to, and check out the resources in: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/twonarratives/index.shtml

Islamic Civilizations in the cold war:
Thursday, February 21st:
Chapter 6, Gettleman and Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic World Reader.
In-Class visit from Ambassador Ron Neumann.

FRIDAY RECITATION:  BOOK REPORT ON ILAN PAPPE DUE.

Tuesday, February 26th:
Chapter 7, Gettleman and Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic World Reader.
Focus:   Sayyid Qutb, Rashid Rida.

The case of Iran
Thursday, February 28th: Roy Mottahedeh, Mantle of the Prophet, 1-109.

Tuesday, March 4th: Roy Mottahedeh, Mantle of the Prophet, 110-185
*NY Times Report on 1953 CIA coup:  http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/mideast/041600iran-cia-index.html
*Chapter VI, section 28, in Gettleman and Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic World Reader.

Thursday, March 6th: Roy Mottahedeh, Mantle of the Prophet, 186-336.

[Spring Break.]

Tuesday, March 18th: 
[omid in Turkey]  In class video on the life of Khomeini.
Finish reading Roy Mottahedeh, Mantle of the Prophet, 337-395.

Thursday, March 20st:  Khomeini
Khomeini, http://www.wandea.org.pl/khomeini-pdf/hukumat-i-islami.pdf
Life of Khomeini:  http://www.iranchamber.com/history/rkhomeini/ayatollah_khomeini.php
http://www.wandea.org.pl/khomeini-pdf/khomeini-biography.pdf

Tuesday, March 25th:  
Iranian Reform movement
Check out Drsoroush.com and kadivar.com
*Ebadi, 2003 Nobel lecture:   http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2003/ebadi-lecture-e.html

Thursday, March 27th:
The Rise of Wahhabi Islam,
And Marcia Hermansen essay in Progressive Muslims.
Listen to:  http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/crisisinislam/index.shtml

Tuesday, April 1st:
**Case Study:  The framing of the 9/11 atrocities in religious discourse, and Muslim responses
Bin Laden:  "Jihad against Jews and Crusaders"
Lightly Browse:  "Al-Qa'idah and the Qur'an:  The 'tafsir' of Usamah bin Laden"

For Muslim responses, explore http://groups.colgate.edu/aarislam/response.htm
read:  *Khaled Abou El Fadl, "Terrorism is at Odds with Islamic Tradition";
Explore:  http://www.unc.edu/~kurzman/terror.htm

Debates on Islamic reform:
Thursday, April 3rd
Essays by Safi, Khaled Abou El Fadl, Esack, and Moosa in Progressive Muslims

Tuesday, April 8th:  
Essays by Shaikh, Kecia Ali, Kugle, and Simmons in Progressive Muslims

Thursday, April 10th:
Essays by Hussain, Wadud, Moussali, and Noor in Progressive Muslims

Muslims in America:   9/11 and Beyond
Tuesday, April 15th:  
Neo-conservatives and Imagining Islam:
The Neo-conservative movement as pre-text for U.S. engagement with Middle East.
Bernard Lewis, “Roots of Muslim Rage”, First try this link: If that doesn't work, try this one:
Bernard Lewis, “What Went Wrong?”
Samuel Huntington, “Clash of Civilizations?”
*Chapter 8 in Gettleman and Schaar, The Middle East and Islamic World Reader. 

Thursday, April 17th: 
[Omid at GTU]

Tuesday, April 22nd:
Muslims in America.
Listen to:  http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/spiritofislam/index.shtml

Thursday, April 24th:    
Politics of academia:
*Tazim Kassam in Progressive Muslims
Lisa Anderson, Scholarship, Policy, Debate and Conflict: Why We Study the Middle East and Why It Matters (2003 MESA Presidential Address) 

Laurie A. Brand, Scholarship in the Shadow of Empire, (2004 MESA Presidential Address)

If you'd like to share your syllabus, please send it to us as an MS Word attachement at studyofislam@gmail.com.

	Bruce Lawrence, The Qur'an: Books That changed the World, Grove Press, 2008.
	Omid Safi, The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry, Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 2006.
	Ebrahim Moosa, Ghazali and Poetics of Imagination, Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 2005.