SOC8001 Islam and the West

Requisites

Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in Program: MSTA

Other requisites

Students will require access to e-mail and have internet access to UConnect for this course.

Synopsis

Islam is one of the most newsworthy, yet systematically misunderstood, religions in the world. In this course, we examine some social-scientific works that are produced within the Muslim world in order better to understand the diversity of Islam and Islam's relationship with modernity, and get behind the clichés that are often generated in media and popular commentary on 'the Islamic threat'. This course is not intended to suggest that one religion or religious culture is better or worse than any other, or to evaluate the Islamic world against divine standards. It is intended to introduce a respectful and critical approach towards students' own and other belief systems, and to consider the importance, diversity, and recent transformations of Islamic societies.

Course offers