http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/dcrawford/

This course is an anthropological inquiry into various forms of cultural, religious, ethnic and linguistic diversity within and among Islamic societies and cultures.  Our goals will be to, 1. broaden our understanding of the societies in question, and 2. sharpen the way we think about society, culture and religion. 

Your grade will be determined by ten quizzes, ten “news reports,” an end of the semester news summary, and three exams. Quizzes will count 2% each, for a total of 20%. Quizzes will not be announced in advance, but we will have at least eleven, from which your best ten will count towards your grade. News reports will be a one page summary of the week’s news in some assigned region of the world and will be worth 1% each.  Click here for sites people have chosen to follow in the past.  There are fourteen possible weeks in which to do a report; your best ten reports will count towards your grade. You must be in class to discuss your report to receive credit. At the end of the semester you will submit a short paper summarizing the newsworthy events in your region.  This will count as 5% of your grade.  The first two exams are worth 20% each, the final is worth 25%.  If you miss either of the exams, you may substitute the score of the other minus 20%.  There will be no make up work, quizzes, exams or papers.  Please do not ask.
 

Ali, Tariq. 2003. The Clash of Fundamentalisms. London: Verso. 

Burke, Edmund. 1993. Struggle and survival in the modern Middle East. Berkeley:University of California Press. 

Maalouf, Amin. 1992. Leo Africanus. New York:New Amsterdam. 

Sardar, Ziauddin and Merryl Wyn Davies. 2004. The No-Nonsense Guide to Islam. London: Verso. 

Reading List: Articles 

Asad, T. (1993). Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam. Baltimore, JohnHopkinsUniversity Press. Pp.27-54 

Beinin, Joel. No More Tears: Benny Morris and the Road Back from Liberal Zionism. MERIP 2004 [cited 1/19/2005. Available from http://www.merip.org/mer/mer230/230_beinin.html.
Bickerton, Ian J. & Carla L. Klausner. 2002. A concise history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Eickelman, Dale F. 2002. The Middle East and Central Asia : an anthropological approach. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Pp. 241-311.

Fromkin, David“How the Modern Middle East Map Came to be Drawn,” Smithsonian 22 (May 1991), 132-47.

Klein, Naomi. 2004. Baghdad Year Zero. Harpers, (September 2004) 43-53.

Denny, Frederick 1994. An introduction to Islam.New York: Macmillan. Pp. 59-82

Geertz, Clifford. 1973. “Religion as a Cultural System” in The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books

Manger, Leif O. 1999. “Introduction” in Muslim diversity : local Islam in global contexts. Surrey: Curzon. Pp. 1-36

Whitmore, B. (2003). Letter from Sarajevo. The Nation. 277: 29-31

Schedule of Readings

September 4 – Introduction to the Course– no reading assignment 

Section I: Islam as Religion

September 8: read Geertz, Asad 

September 11: read Eickelman

September 15: read Ali 24-30 (Origins of Islam), and 49–68 (The Joys of Heresy; Women versus Eternal Masculinity)

September 18: Sardar and Davies to pg. 51.
            September 22: Sardar and Davies, pp. 52-131.  Your potential exam questions are posted here.
            September 25: Exam 1
Section II: Islamic History 

September 29: read Denny, Fromkin

October 2: read Maalouf, Book I  

October 6:  read Ali, pp. 31-43 (Empire of the World; Jerusalem, Jerusalem) 
            October 9:  read Maalouf, Book II

October 14: Watch these videos [NOTE Tuesday class]

October 16: read Maalouf, Book III, Burke, chap. 3 (Shemsigul)

October 20: read Maalouf, Book IV, and Ali, pp. 44-48 (Ottomanism)

            October 23: read Burke, chaps. 2 (Asaf), 4 (Journeyman Weavers) 
            October 27: read Burke, chaps 10 (Abu Ali the Qabaday), 19 (Haddou), 20 (Nasir)

                      October  30: Exam 2 Here is a map to study for Exam2    Here is one set of questions.

                        Here is a second set of questions to study for the exam.

         Section III: Islam, Politics, and Ideology 

November 3: read Bickerton & Klausner, Beinin

November 6: read  Ali, pp. 86-125 (Zionism..., Marginal Notes) 

November 10: read Ali, pp. xii-11 (Prologue), 141-153 (An Ocean of Terror)

November13: read Ali, pp. 279-328 (A Short Course History; September Surprise)  

November 17: read Klein, Ali pp. 73-85 (The Roots of Wahhabism, The Kingdom of Corruption)
Section IV: Diversity and Daily Life 

November 20: read Manger (only pps. 1-18) (Academic meetings -- no class.)

November 24: read Burke, chaps.  12 (Hagob), 13 (Naji), 24 (June Leavitt) (Academic meetings -- no class.)

Dec 1: read read Ali, pp. 126-140 (Anti-Imperialism of Fools); Burke, chaps. 16 (Iranian Boyhood), 22 (Khanom Gohary)17

Dec. 4: read Burke, chaps. 5 (Ahmed), 7 (Bibi Maryam), 17 (Gulab), Whitmore

Dec. 8: final lecture and review

Here are the exam questions you wrote.

            Final exam : Saturday, December 13th at 9 a.m.
            

A	93-100
A-	90-92
B+	87-89
B	83-86
B-	80-82
C+	77-79
C	73-76
C-	70-72
D	60-69

Just so you know...
"Plagiarism is the appropriation of ideas, data, work, or language of others and submitting them as one’s own to satisfy the requirements of a course.  Plagiarism constitutes theft and deceit. Students are often confused by just what constitutes plagiarism.  When the ideas or writings of others are presented in assignments, these ideas or writing should be attributed to that source. Special care should be taken, when cutting and pasting materials or when paraphrasing, to cite sources correctly and to use quotation marks around exact words from source materials. Actions that result in plagiarism may be intentional or unintentional.  Consequently, students must understand the concept of plagiarism.  When reading, processing, or using materials from any source, appropriate documentation is always essential."

Resources such as the library (x2178) and the writing center (www.fairfield.edu/writingcenter) are available on campus to assist you in your academic endeavors.  You are encouraged to take advantage of these resources.  If you have a disability that may require special accommodation in this course, contact Student Support Services (x2614) to make arrangements.