Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ANT2017: Anthropology of Islam

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

Module Content

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:
The Idea of an Anthropology of Islam

Ethnographic Approaches to the Study of Islam

Islamic Origin Narratives

The Hermeneutics of Suspicion

Islam’s Role in the Origins of ‘Western’ Civilisation

Islam, Space, and Locality

Islamic Gender and Kinship

Islamic Economics

Islamic Modernity

Islam, Secularism, and Post-Islamism

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:

The Idea of an Anthropology of Islam

Ethnographic Approaches to the Study of Islam

Islamic Origin Narratives

The Hermeneutics of Suspicion

Islam’s Role in the Origins of ‘Western’ Civilisation

Islam, Space, and Locality

Islamic Gender and Kinship

Islamic Economics

Islamic Modernity

Islam, Secularism, and Post-Islamism

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity	11	11 x 1 Hour Lectures
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity	11	11 x 1 Hour Seminars
Guided Independent Study	12	Research Paper Proposal
Guided Independent Study	56	Weekly Reading for seminars
Guided Independent Study	20	Exam Preparation
Guided Independent Study	40	Research Paper

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

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.