IWS 116 | INTRODUCTION TO ISLAM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will introduce students to the religion of Islam through its sources, practices, and presence in the contemporary world. In this introduction we will briefly explore the Qur'an, the Prophet Muhammad, hadith, law, ritual and practices, and sectarian movements as well as some of the modern reform movements. This course will take primarily an historical approach to the study of Islam.
IWS 141 | THE MUSLIM WORLD, 600 - 1100 | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Foundation of First Global Civilization (600-1100). A study of the emergence of Islam and the growth of the Islamic community from the time of the Prophet Muhammad until the end of the eleventh century. Cross-listed with HST 141.
IWS 142 | THE MUSLIM WORLD, 1000-1500 | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Sultans, Khans and Shaykhs: Medieval Islamic History (1000-1500). A survey of Muslim history from the decline of the Arab caliphate to the rise of the great gunpowder empires, addressing themes of political expansion, military slavery, devastation brought about by the twin plagues of the Mongols and the Black Death, and the growth of Islamic mysticism.
IWS 143 | THE MUSLIM WORLD, 1400-1920 | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Great Empires (1400-1920). Examines the social, cultural and economic histories of the Ottoman-Turkish, Safavid Iranian and Mughal-Indian empires which dominated the Muslim world in the crucial centuries between the end of the Mongol empire and the advent of European dominance.
IWS 171 | INTRODUCTION TO THE QUR'AN | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of the origin, transmission, and interpretation of the Qur'an.
IWS 190 | SACRED TEXTS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A survey of the formation, use and interpretation of sacred texts by religious and secular communities.
IWS 192 | ISLAMIC WORLD STUDIES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course introduces students to the Islamic world, a world impacted by the religion of Islam, but not solely defined by it. The study of fundamental religious texts such as the Qur'an and the Hadith provide an understanding of the basic parameters that characterize this world. The course then explores how these basic parameters impact the history, geography, politics, philosophy, culture, and social life of Muslim majority and minority communities, while simultaneously underlining their diverse and pluralistic character.
IWS 201 | GEOPOLITICS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A survey of theories of geopolitics and international relations, the course explores issues of international security and organization, regional integration, and nationalism, state formation and conflict. Historic geopolitical cases from Europe (Northern Ireland, EU, Balkans), the Middle East and North Africa, and the Russian realm, provide opportunities to assess theoretical approaches and profile the security and foreign policy concerns of the U.S.in the new millennium.
IWS 203 | RELIGIOUS GEOGRAPHY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Religion and geography are fundamentally intertwined. From the establishment of theocratic states that control territory, to the sprawl of US suburbia that has led to megachurches, the role of religion in shaping the earth's cultural landscape is undeniable. Religious beliefs shape geographies - there are places that, through faith, become sacred; elsewhere religious individuals and groups struggle to claim places in the name of their beliefs. This course will examine case studies from around the world to explore the intersection of geography and religion.
IWS 204 | CULTURAL ANALYSIS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course asks students to examine economic and cultural practices together so as to see the complicated ways in which such practices intersect and/or give rise to one another. Drawing on a variety of materialist perspectives, students study the economic and cultural instrumentality that different family structures and constructions of sexuality, gender, and race have held across time and place and how and why such structures have changed. Students also analyze the cultural logic of disposability in capitalism, both in terms of garbage-generation and the generation of surplus populations.
IWS 215 | MUSLIMS IN AMERICAN FICTION AND FILM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will analyze the portrayal of Islam and Muslims by American fiction writers, documentary and screenwriters. Students will use normal analytical categories as they read popular mystery thrillers, romance novels, watch documentaries and review major movies.
IWS 217 | ISLAMIC CULTURES AND SOCIETIES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of Islam's developments in various global contexts, including Arabian beginnings, the Middle East, Central, Eastern and Western Europe, China, the former Soviet States and South Africa, with a focus on the impacts that these cultures and Islam have had on each other.
IWS 230 | ISLAMIC FINANCE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course is a comprehensive introduction to Islamic finance, from its religious and legal origins and principles to its most advanced forms. This course focuses on the underlying principles of Islamic finance through a study of its scriptural and jurisprudential origins and reviews most of its products such as Mud'raba, Mush'raka, Mur'baha, Project finance, Suk'k, Tak'ful, Ij'ra and equity mutual funds etc. The course also examines today's Islamic finance industry with a closer look at the structure and governance of contemporary Islamic financial institutions and international regulatory bodies.
IWS 231 | INDIA FROM 900-1750 - SULTANS, MUGHALS, AND ISLAMIC EMPIRES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
The course begins with the transformation of society from the 'ancient' to the 'medieval', and compares this to developments in Europe in the feudal age. It then incorporates specific political, social, and cultural developments in South Asia that came about with the establishment of powerful Islamic states in a region where Muslims were a minority. These issues will inform the analysis of the Ghaznavid and Ghurid invasions, the Delhi Sultanate, the Vijayanagara empire and the Mughal empire. The course will end with the Marathas and the decline of the Mughal empire, and the rising influence of the British. The central themes concern how the state, economy, culture, and society developed in the period when Islam became firmly embedded in South Asia.
IWS 232 | INDIA FROM 1700-1950 - RISE AND FALL OF THE BRITISH RAJ | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
The course begins with the decline of the Mughal Empire, and then moves to examine the British empire, the nationalist movement and finally to independence and partition in 1947. The central questions of this course continue to be relevant in the post-colonial period: how we understand the distinctive form of modernity that has developed in South Asia. Taking a comparative approach as often as possible, the course examines the fundamental ways that Britain was as transformed by the development of its empire as was colonial India. The course constantly deconstructs easy binaries of self and others/ East and West by examining the differences within Indian and British society.
IWS 233 | THE ART OF CRUSADING | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course focuses on the Crusades. More specifically, it focuses on the world within which the Crusades were born and the Levantine kingdom built as a result of their initial success. Our study will depend on primary artistic, literary, and archaeological materials, as well as the secondary scholarship that has identified and interpreted these materials. Our understanding of this historical moment will be nuanced by the questions we ask of both. The payoff will be an appreciation for the religious, social, political, and artistic forces that defined the twelfth and thirteen centuries in Europe and in the Mediterranean basin, leading as they did to such fascinating phenomena as pilgrimage, the cult of relics, chivalry, holy war, the rise of military orders, and the establishment of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem itself.
IWS 234 | COMPARATIVE URBANISM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An exploration of non-U.S. urban and planning traditions, through the urban morphological and comparative study of the foundation, and social-political forces that shaped cities such as Paris, St. Petersburg, Istanbul, Bombay-Mumbai, Hong Kong, and Mexico City.
IWS 240 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN ISLAMIC WORLD STUDIES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Topics vary each term. (May be taken more than once).
IWS 242 | AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An examination of the forces that shape the broad outlines of United States foreign policy, including historical background, and the effects of social forces and governmental structures. The challenges, opportunities and constraints presented by the international environment are also considered.
IWS 251 | ISLAMIC ART | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An examination of the origins of Islamic culture in Arabia and the spread of Islamic art and religion across the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, Sicily, Iran, India, and Central Asia; emphasizes the meaning of religious imagery.
IWS 255 | MIDDLE EAST POLITICS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course explores contemporary political issues in the Middle East. It includes country profiles, a review of the Arab-Israeli conflict, analysis of opposing viewpoints about the revival of Islam and about Islamic fundamentalism, and the region's position in the emerging new world order.
IWS 261 | RELIGION AND CONFLICT IN SOUTH ASIA | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Religion has become central to conflict in contemporary South Asia. This course examines the relationship between religion and conflict both within and between nations in South Asia. It will examine how religion fuels conflict as well as how religion is used to find a nonviolent resolution to conflict. It will also analyze how religion is used to challenge and resist victimization, marginalization, silencing, and indeed violence during conflict. Finally, the course will examine how the cultural politics of class, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality constitute and are constituted by religion.
IWS 263 | RELIGION AND POLITICS IN THE MIDDLE EAST | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
An exploration of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as they develop and interact in the Middle East, historically and in terms of contemporary religious and political issues. Includes a study of personal narratives of people from Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities.
IWS 265 | ISLAMIST POLITICAL MOVEMENTS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will introduce the student to Islamic political movements around the globe. The course will look at their history as well as their intellectual and theological underpinnings.
IWS 266 | ISLAM IN THE UNITED STATES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will explore Muslim cultures in Canada and the U. S. While the course may also investigate histories, ethnicities and religious ideologies, the organizing focus will be on struggle, contestation, maturity and change. Although Canadian provinces and U.S. states claim that religion should present no bar to full participation in the public square and religious discrimination is illegal, Muslims, in fact, are challenged as citizens. Living in religious Diasporas as minorities, communities north and south of the Canadian border, Muslims have found themselves contesting notions of integration, pluralism and acculturation. Often labeled "as the enemies within," Muslims have laid their claims as productive citizens, determined to contribute to the security, welfare and advancement of their home.
IWS 272 | GENDER AND SEXUALITY IN MUSLIM CULTURES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Explores historical and contemporary trends in writing on Muslim women along modern and contemporary narratives on gender and sexuality in Muslim majority and minority cultures.
IWS 278 | HADITH: TRADITIONS OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will introduce students to the hadith (the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad). The course will look at the historical development of the collection, study, and criticism of the hadith. Students will learn the utilization of the hadith in the establishment of Muslim religious practices, law, political and cultural norms. Students will become familiar with the technical terms that are utilized by the scholars of hadith. Students will also come to understand the modern debates about hadith study and hadith utility (or lack there of) in the modern world.
IWS 294 | MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A study of selected thinkers and issues from the Medieval period.
(PHL 100 or HON 105 or any 200-level PHL course) is a prerequisite for this class.
IWS 295 | SHI'ITE ISLAM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will look at the history and the various divisions of Shi'i Islam.
IWS 301 | ARAB BROADCAST MEDIA | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course improves students' competence in listening, reading comprehension, writing, and presentation skills in the content of Arab media. The main language of instruction will be Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the language of Arab news. Both instructor and students will be using MSA as the main language for communication. Classroom instruction will assist students in acquiring and using Arabic vocabulary needed for understanding and analyzing authentic Arabic media material. The course will focus on five main topics: (1) Meetings and Conferences, (2) Demonstrations, (3) Elections, (4) Courts and Trails, and (5) Finance and Business. In addition to topics and vocabulary covered in the required textbooks, students will listen to and discuss authentic news items. They will also be exposed to Egyptian dialect. ARB 106 or equivalent, including placement test or permission of instructor, is recommended.
IWS 302 | AFRICAN ISLAM: ISLAMIC ART & ARCHITECTURE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Focused study of the impact of Islam on the artistic traditions of sub-Saharan Africa. Rather than necessarily replacing previous art forms, this course investigates in what circumstances preexisting visual culture might be integrated with the requirements and needs of Islam. This approach necessitates an understanding that neither Islam nor African art are monolithic entities, but rather their interactions represent a wide variety of negotiations across the continent. Likewise, this course will consider specific historical circumstances to which Islamic art in sub-Saharan Africa has responded in terms of form and content.
IWS 303 | ARABIC PRINT MEDIA | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course consists of intensive exposure to vocabulary and expressions characteristic of language used in Arab media. The course will rely on newspaper articles and authentic material in addition to the Media Arabic textbook. The focus of the course will be on enforcing vocabulary learned in ARB 301 that will assist students in understanding the content of Arab print Media and translating texts into English. Presentations and discussions will be used to enforce meaning and increase vocabulary retention and proper use. ARB 106 or equivalent, including placement test or permission of instructor, is recommended.
IWS 306 | GLOBAL EMPIRES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
In this course, students gain an acquaintance with theories of imperialism and post-colonial theory through historically situated studies. 'Power' serves as the generative concept for this course, to be understood as emergent at multi-scalar levels.
IWS 307 | WOMEN IN THE MIDDLE EAST: BEYOND THE VEIL | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course explores how Middle Eastern Women have been represented in the media outside of the Middle East, by Arab women scholars, and "Third World" feminists and challenges these representations by focusing on issues such as veiling, the everyday lives of Middle Eastern Women, political activism, literary works, economics and social class, and media representations.
IWS 308 | NATURE AS RESOURCE: MINING & EXTRACTION'S IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT & SOCIETY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Environmental crises such as climate change, pollution, loss of habitats and species etc. are directly linked to human activity and the treatment of the natural world as a mere resource. This course investigates the impact and consequences of mining and extractive industries on societies and the environment. The extraction and consumption of minerals and fossil fuels have increased so dramatically since the end of the Cold War and the advent of neoliberal globalization that a consensus has emerged that we now live in a `mineral age' defined by this new extractivism. We will analyze the dynamics behind this new extractivism and its environmental and social consequences. Various critical theories of the relationship between nature and society will be studied. Case studies will explore mining and fossil fuel extractions in Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin and North Americas. We will investigate the role of multinational corporations, lobbyists, technical and scientific experts, and state actors in extractive industries, and how they affect local populations, labor relations, and social and natural habitats.
IWS 311 | ARABIC SHORT STORIES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
A survey of the history and development of short stories in Arabic literature from various Arab countries with focus on language, content analysis, forms, and cultural content relevant to major elements of Arab culture. ARB 106 or the equivalent, including placement test or permission of instructor, is recommended.
IWS 313 | ARABIC FILM | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Survey of the development of Arabic films in the Arab world with examination of sample works from various periods that allow reflection on Arab culture and the social, political, and religious issues that define that culture. ARB 106 or the equivalent, including placement test or permission of instructor, is recommended.
IWS 316 | RELIGION, NATIONALISM AND POLITICS | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course looks at the role of religion, nationalism and ethnicity in contemporary political life. Attention is given to the various theories for explaining modern religious politics. The course also examines the phenomenon in practice. Case studies are drawn from a variety of regions and traditions.
IWS 318 | SOCIETY, POLITICS AND CULTURE IN THE MIDDLE EAST | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will examine the formations of the historical and contemporary social relations of power in the Middle East by questioning the prevalent stereotypes of the region. The main focus will be on the critical investigation of relations of gender, the complexities of state formations, and the dynamics of the contemporary social counter-movements. The latter range from cosmopolitan popular uprisings (Green Movement in Iran, the Arab Spring), to ideological Islamist formations (ISIS, Muslim Brotherhood, etc.).
IWS 340 | SPECIAL TOPICS IN ISLAMIC WORLD STUDIES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
See schedule for current offerings.
IWS 341 | POLITICAL ISLAM AND AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the historical development of the international Islamist movement and the U.S. government's response to it. The course will include a review of Islamist ideology and the debates over how to deal with the militant challenge. The course also examines U.S. policies in the post 9/11 period.
IWS 350 | ARABIC LITERATURE | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course introduces the students to Modern Arabic Literature in form, language, and content. It will focus on various genres, including poetry, drama, the novel, and short stories. Works by major Arab writers and poets representing various regions and content will be examined and analyzed to develop an appreciation for Arab literature and a deeper understanding of their portrayal of Arab culture. ARB 106 or the equivalent, including placement test or permission of instructor, is recommended.
IWS 372 | CAIRO: MOTHER OF THE WORLD (WORLD CITIES) | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course will examine the urban development and architectural heritage of Greater Cairo, Egypt since the reconstruction of the fortress of Babylon in the Roman period, through the establishment of Cairo itself in 969, and until the present. Cairo has always been a crossroads of cultures, set between Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. It has been home to significant Jewish, Christian and Muslim populations who have been impacted by the various ruling dynasties who have held sway there, including the Byzantines, early Islamic rulers, Tulunids, Shi'i Fatimids, and later Sunni Ayyubids, Mamluks, and Ottomans. In the 20th century, rapid expansion has produced extreme pressures on transportation networks and housing. The solution to such problems of intense urbanization has been to build satellite cities including a projected new capital to the east that will connect the Nile to the Red Sea shipping industry, following in the footsteps of the past.
IWS 390 | THEORIES AND METHODS IN ISLAMIC STUDIES | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This course examines the methodologies and theories that have shaped the field of Islamic Studies from its foundation in Europe through the present day. Students will become familiar with the different theories with regards to Islamic origins and the methodological approaches that are at the foundation of these theories. Students will also learn about the interplay between power and scholarship and its effects on the production of knowledge. Doing the above students will learn the mechanics of research in the field.
IWS 191 and IWS 192 are prerequisites for this course
IWS 395 | SENIOR CAPSTONE SEMINAR | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
This is a seminar for Islamic World Studies majors. It is both an opportunity to reflect on what has been gained from studies and experiences in Islamic studies and an opportunity to strengthen that learning and expand those experiences with direct contact with Muslim communities in Chicago and overseas through the Soliya Program. Students will meet with leaders and members of Chicago's Muslim communities and through Soliya meet with their peers in universities here and abroad. Soliya, through a partnership with the United Nations Alliance of civilizations aims to reduce tensions across cultural divides. This aspect of the course will be integrated throughout with the assistance of Jennifer Von Diehle, Assistant director for International Collaborations at DePaul.
IWS 399 | INDEPENDENT STUDY | 4 quarter hours
(Undergraduate)
Independent study designed for majors.