REL 226 - Islam in America

This course will examine the history of Islam in America from the colonial period to the aftermath of 9/11. Through examination of select primary sources, the course will contextualize the phenomenon of American Islam at the intersection of American religious history and modern Islamic history. It will inquire into how the history of American Islam could enrich conventional understandings of religious pluralism in the United States and the relationship between Islam and modernity. Topics to be discussed include the relationship between race, ethnicity, and religion in the United States; the influence of comparative theology and religious studies on American conceptions of religious diversity; the relationship between missions, colonialism, and industrialization in the late nineteenth century; the role of Islam in the civil rights movement in the United States and in nationalist movements in Muslim-majority societies; and the rise of militant Islam as a matter of global concern.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group II
Prerequisite(s): HUM 110, sophomore standing
Instructional Method: Conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Cross-listing(s): CRES 226
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Evaluate data and/or sources.
Analyze institutions, formations, languages, structures, or processes, whether social, political, religious, economic, cultural, intellectual or other.
Think in sophisticated ways about causation, social and/or historical change, human cognition, or the relationship between individuals and society, or engage with social, political, religious or economic theory in other areas.