Honors 394 B- Islam and Muslims in Western Contexts
Course Description: "This class provides a survey of Muslims living in non-Muslim context, but primarily in the US and Europe. This course explores the historical journey(s) of this religion/culture and its eventual settlement in the western world and eventually to North America. We will examine the diversity of Islam in the US and in Europe, and will explore and compare the experiences of Muslims in the US and other parts of the western world. The larger question posed by the class deals with the compatibility between Islam as a religion and a culture, and modernity and western democracies, and the extent to which the anti-Muslim feelings are significant in determining the relationship between Islam and the Western world."
As usual, I greatly enjoyed my Honors class this quarter! I always love learning about new topics, especially ones related to history and culture, so this class was a perfect fit! I found this class especially important considering the current rise in Islamophobia in this country; it was really nice to get some background into the history of the current trends we're seeing. This class delves deep into the scope of Islamophobia, orientalism, racialization, and racism throughout the US and the West, so there was a lot of material to cover and a lot of readings. However, Professor Karam Dana was a wonderful teacher and guided us through it all with ease; I'd definitely recommend this class!
Course Description: "This class provides a survey of Muslims living in non-Muslim context, but primarily in the US and Europe. This course explores the historical journey(s) of this religion/culture and its eventual settlement in the western world and eventually to North America. We will examine the diversity of Islam in the US and in Europe, and will explore and compare the experiences of Muslims in the US and other parts of the western world. The larger question posed by the class deals with the compatibility between Islam as a religion and a culture, and modernity and western democracies, and the extent to which the anti-Muslim feelings are significant in determining the relationship between Islam and the Western world."
As usual, I greatly enjoyed my Honors class this quarter! I always love learning about new topics, especially ones related to history and culture, so this class was a perfect fit! I found this class especially important considering the current rise in Islamophobia in this country; it was really nice to get some background into the history of the current trends we're seeing. This class delves deep into the scope of Islamophobia, orientalism, racialization, and racism throughout the US and the West, so there was a lot of material to cover and a lot of readings. However, Professor Karam Dana was a wonderful teacher and guided us through it all with ease; I'd definitely recommend this class!
Our final project for this class was a short paper and oral presentation on a research topic of our choosing. I chose to write about the influence of hijab as fashion both in the West and abroad. My first draft of this paper was five pages, so I had to edit a lot out but I'm pretty happy with the final result!