Sociology of Religion: Islam & the Modern World

This section is for non-Gallatin students. Gallatin students, please register under IDSEM-UG 1552-001.

This course is designed to explore the role of religion in modern societies. We will examine religion as an important social institution and also as a cultural system. We will study canonical and contemporary theories of religion (Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Dewey, and Geertz). The focus of the course, however, will be Islam. We will look at the cultural context and historical construction of Islam, as well as the different social contexts within which Islam has evolved. We will examine the relationship between Islam and modernity, including secular ideologies, gender politics, and modern democracy. We will pay particular attention to the role that Islam plays in the everyday life of those who practice it, who are affected by it, or who struggle with it as their tradition. Our goal is to study Islam not as a fixed object or authentic tradition but as a social and cultural phenomenon subject to change, contestation, and critique. Texts may include John Dewey, A Common Faith; Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History; Fatima Mernissi, Islam and Democracy; Leila Ahmed, A Quiet Revolution: The Veil's Resurgence, from the Middle East to America. Elizabeth Fernea, and In Search of Islamic Feminism.