Your current browser seems to be outdated. This means that some features of the website are not available. Please update your browser.
Attention: some of the selected courses have overlapping schedules.
According to our information you currently have not yet passed a course
Your planning has not been saved yet
Attention! Your planning has courses in the same period with overlapping timeslots
Religions in the Public Domain (2023/2024: period 1)
Course aim
- Demonstrate basic knowledge about history and theology of Judaism and Islam, in particular related to their religious and cultural practices;
- Identify why and how Judaism and Islam cope with pressures to manifest their religious identities either in a public or a private sphere;
- Critically discuss texts, material culture and practices of Jews and Muslims and relate these to their historical contexts;
- Operate with contemporary theories about religion and the body in the public domain in Western societies and to assess their heuristic value for studying historical contexts;
- Analyze examples of body-practices in Judaism and Islam using adequate methods and theories
- Relate contemporary examples of expressions of religious bodily presence in the public sphere with the surrounding culture;
- Carry out a small scale research based on a critical analysis of secondary and primary sources.
Course content
In the part of Judaism, discussion of these issues is preceded by a general introduction in Judaism, each class discussing Jewish identity in its systematic, historical, or hermeneutic aspects. Following this, some in depth discussions of body-related religious practices introduce the main topics.
As for Islam, the course offers, in the form of readings and guest lectures, an overview of we the foundational texts which shape the Muslim world view, especially religious performative practices as defined in Islamic law and manifested in the public sphere. By discussing various issues related to the human body and Islamic “revivalism,” we shall see how Muslims try to legitimate their action in public life. Are Muslim allowed to live in a non-Muslim domain? How far can they actively engage themselves in a non-Muslim majority society? Is apostasy in Islam public or private? How can we understand the issues of dress, veiling and male-female segregation in Islam between theory and practice? What are the limitations imposed on the autonomy of the human body?
Format
The course is divided into two sections, one about Judaism, one about Islam. The class meets twice a week for two hours. Students are expected to come to each session well prepared to discuss the readings and to make thoughtful contributions to the learning process. This includes executing tasks in advance set for the ‘Workshops’. Detailed information on the program, including deadlines and also taking into account the COVID situation, will be provided in due time in a syllabus on Blackboard.
In each section each individual student make weekly assignments (summaries, essays, site observations and queries) that also assess his/her knowledge of central terminology, basic historical facts and essential concepts of each religion, based on the theory presented in class and the literature studied during each section of the course. Following this, each student will prepare a short presentation, and, finally, execute a (comparative) research of a specific topic of Jewish and/or Islamic Bodily Presence as location of (religious) identity.
Instructional formats
Examination
Smaller assignments
Required | Weight 20% | ECTS 1.5
Paper
Required | Weight 40% | ECTS 3
Presentation
Required | Weight 40% | ECTS 3
*midterm FEEDBACK*
Not required
Entry requirements and preknowledge
Entry Requirements
At least one of the following course modules must be completed:
- [UCHUMARA11] Introduction to Arabic Language and Culture
- [UCHUMHIS13] Early Modern History: 1450 - 1850
- [UCHUMPHI11] Introduction to Philosophy
- [UCHUMPHI12] Introduction to World Philosophies
- [UCHUMREL12] Introduction to Religious Studies
- [UCHUMREL13] Global Religions: Ideas and Practices
- [UCSSCANT11] Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology
- [UCSSCLAW11] Law, Society and Justice
- [UCSSCPOL11] Introduction to Political Science
- [UCSSCPOL13] Introduction to Comparative Politics
- [UCSSCSOC11] Introduction to Sociology
Preknowledge
Students who do not satisfy the above requirement need to apply for course admittance (additional reading can also qualify for participation).
Languages
- English
Competences
-
Academic writing
-
International and intercultural orientation
-
Research skills
Course Iterations
Related studies
Exams
There is no timetable available of the exams
Required Materials
-
BOEKEliezer Segal, Introducing Judaism (Abingdon Ca./New York: Routledge, 2009) ISBN 13:978 0 415 44009 7 or hardcover 978 415 44008 0. (also digitally accessible in UBU Library) William Shepard, Islam, the ebook : an online introduction (Providence: Journal of Buddhist Ethics Online Books. 2009) (digitally accessible in UU Library).
-
DIVERSESelected book chapters, and articles are accessible through UBU library facilities, or will be made available as a Reader; Source-texts will be provided on Blackboard.
Recommended Materials
No information available on the recommended literature
Coördinator
dr. M. Sajid PhD | M.Sajid@uu.nl |
Lecturers
dr. D.F. Oostveen | d.f.oostveen@uu.nl |
dr. M. Sajid PhD | M.Sajid@uu.nl |
Enrolment
Go to OSIRIS-enrolments
Permanent link to course page
Show in the Course-Catalog