Encountering the Other: "Un-Islamic" Culture and the Dar al-Islam
| Module title | Encountering the Other: "Un-Islamic" Culture and the Dar al-Islam |
|---|---|
| Module code | ARA2175 |
| Academic year | 2019/0 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Professor Christina Phillips (Convenor) Dr Emily Selove (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 15 |
|---|
Module description
This module will challenge assumptions about what constitutes “Islamic” culture. Covering material from the Late Antique to the modern periods, you will learn the ways that “Un-Islamic” ideas played a central role in the development of the multifarious, diverse, and rich cultures of the Islamic world, exploring the contributions of pagan, Christian, Jewish, and other religious discourses, contact between Muslims and non-Muslims in the pre-modern period, intoxication, heresy, homoeroticism, science, mysticism, and magic. This will culminate in a discussion of the modern “Muslim world” and questions of secularisation, environmentalism, feminisism, and other questions intended to provide nuance and complexity to what is often an overly simplistic view of Islamic culture.
You will read course material in English translation, and although optional readings for those with knowledge of the Arabic language can be provided, knowledge of Arabic is not required. You will acquire an interdisciplinary specialist understanding of the topic addressed.
Module aims - intentions of the module
You will develop valuable employability skills in this module, such as the ability to locate and assimilate difficult information, and deal sensitively and creatively with the literatures of a foreign culture. You will also develop a strong sense of perspective and flexibility in thinking and expressing yourself cogently on a complex matter. You will acquire a nuanced perspective on some of the varieties of Middle Eastern Culture in the past and present, which will allow you to participate in an informed fashion in urgent ongoing conversations about Islam, the Middle East, and its relationship to the so-called “West.”
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. demonstrate critical awareness of a wide range of social and contextual implications of the question What is Islamic, and what is its relationship to the West
- 2. demonstrate ability to compare, analyse and synthesise the principal rules and theories relating to this question using a variety of methodologies
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 3. integrate and assess information from primary and secondary sources using appropriate interpretative techniques
- 4. select, integrate and present coherently and reflectively, orally and in writing, relevant arguments
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. manage relevant learning resources/ information/ learning strategies and to develop own arguments and opinions with minimum guidance
- 6. communicate and engage in debate effectively and accurately, orally and in writing, in a manner appropriate to the discipline/ different contexts
Syllabus plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- Pagan Influences on Islamic Culture: The Hellenisation of the Medieval Middle East
- Magic, Religion, and Science: blurring the boundaries of knowledge
- Heresy and Orthodoxy
- Mysticism, Intoxication, and the Love of Wine
- Homosexuality and Intersex Bodies: Evidence from the Past, Directions for the Future
- Environmentalism and the Uncanny: Animal Rights and Vegetarianism past and present
- Encountering the Other: Travel Literature and Excursions from the House of Islam
- Travelling on the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile
- Environmentalism and the Uncanny: Animal Rights and Vegetarianism past and present
- Iconoclasm and diabolic discourse in modern Arabic literature
- Secularity and the Canon
- Mystical dimensions in modern Arabic art and poetry
- Prison texts and the asylum
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 128 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 22 | 11 x 2 hour classes. You will need to complete all readings prior to class and be ready to participate. On some occasions you may be asked to participate. |
| Guided Independent Study | 68 | Reading and research |
| Guided Independent Study | 30 | Completing assignments |
| Guided Independent Study | 30 | Preparing for assessments |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 plans, one for the essay and one for the presentation | 300 words each | 1-6 | Written feedback and discussions during office hours |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 60 | 0 | 40 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thematic analysis of a text/s | 60 | 2,500 words | 1-6 | Written comments |
| Individual presentation | 40 | 15 minutes | 1-6 | Written comments |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thematic analysis of a text/s | Thematic analysis of texts (2500 words) | 1-6 | August/September reassessment period |
| Individual presentation | Essay (1500 words) | 1-6 | August/September reassessment period |
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Medieval Islamic Underworld: The Banu Sasan in Criminal Life and Lore, C.E. Bosworth
Muj?n: Libertinism in Mediaeval Muslim Society and Literature, Zoltan Szombathy
Homoeroticism in Classical Arabic Literature edited by J. W. Wright, Jr. and Everett K. Rowson,
El-Rouayheb, Khaled. Before Homosexuality in the Arab-Islamic World, 1500-1800, Khaled al-Rouayheb
Poems of Wine & Revelry, Abu Nuwas.
The philosophy of Ecstasy: Rumi and the Sufi tradition, Leonard Lewisohn
Greek Thought, Arabic Culture, Dimitri Gutas
Magic and Divination in Early Islam, Emilie Savage-Smith (ed).
What is Islam?: The Importance of Being Islamic, Ahmed Shahab.?
Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness: Arab Travellers in the Far North, translated by Caroline Stone.
The Travels of Ibn Battutah, edited by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
The Medieval Nile: Route, navigation and landscape in Islamic Egypt, John Cooper
‘Modern Arabic Literature and the Qur'an: Creativity, Inimitability…Incompatibilities?’, Shawkat Toorawa.
Religious Perspectives in Modern Muslim and Jewish Literatures, Glenda Abramson and Hilary Kilpatrick (eds.).
Islam and Secularism in the Middle East, Azzam Tamimi and John L. Esposito, eds.
‘The Other Question: Stereotype, Discrimination and the Discourse of Colonialism’, Homi Bhabha
Strange Encounters: Embodied Others in Post-Coloniality, Sara Ahmed
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 5 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 01/03/2019 |
| Last revision date | 01/03/2019 |
