Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ANT2017: Anthropology of Islam

This module descriptor refers to the 2018/9 academic year.

Module Aims

You will be introduced to a range of approaches to the study of the Islam, including hermeneutics, ethnography, anthropology, and history, among others. You will then apply these analytical tools to a range of historical cases to explore the diversity of Islamic lifeworlds, with an emphasis on how Islam invites us to rethink fundamental questions about what it means to be human. Through a guided research project, you will develop your own personal approach to the study of Islam and then apply that approach to a particular contemporary or historical Islamic community of your own choosing.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here – you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate familiarity with the major contemporary approaches to the study of Islam;
2. Show a developed understanding of specific issues related to the study of Islam, including definitional matters, the difficulty of defining the boundaries of ‘Islam’, and the limits of text-based approaches;
3. Show a developed understanding of central concerns within contemporary and historical Islamic communities like space, locality, gender, kinship, economics, modernity and secularism.
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Apply various theories and methodologies to specific cases;
5. Show competence in critically assessing claims about Islam
6. Think clearly about the social, political, and anthropological implications of Islam.
Personal and Key Skills7. Communicate effectively in written and oral form;
8. Engage in cross-cultural translation and comparison;
9. conduct research on a topic and organize findings in written form in a compelling manner.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Basic reading:

Abdullah, Z. 2010. Black Mecca: The African Muslims of Harlem. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Asad, T. 2003. Formations of the Secular. Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press.

Bayat, A. 2013. Post-Islamism: The Many Faces of Political Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Crone, P. and Cook, M. 1977. Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Deeb, L. 2006. An Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi’i Lebanon. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Geertz, C. 1968. Islam Observed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Mahmood 2004. The Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Maurer, B. 2002. “Repressed Futures: Financial Derivatives’ Theological Unconscious.” Economy and Society 31(1): 15-36.

Qutb, S. 1949. Social Justice in Islam. New York: American Council of Learned Societies.

Said, E. 1980 “Islam Through Western Eyes.” The Nation.

Tobin, S. 2016. Everyday Piety: Islam and Economy in Jordan. Ithica, NY: Cornell University Press.