Department of History Spring 2000
HISTORY 599: RELIGION, POLITICS, AND POWER IN THE MODERN WORLD
(incorporating and adding to the syllabus for the co-convened
HIS 499)
Office: LA 206 GRAD MEETING: Wed. 3.30-4.30
Phone: 523-6216 or 523-4378 (provisional)
E-mail: Sanjay.Joshi@nau.edu
Web Page: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~sj6
Office Hrs:T-Th. 11:00-12:00;
COURSE DESCRIPTION
According to the common sense of our modern world, religion ought to be confined to the realms of private worship. Yet even a cursory look at the world around us tells us that such is not the case. Across the world today, there are movements claiming to mobilize people on the basis of religious affiliations. Clearly our modern common sense needs some serious reconsideration. This course aims to do just that. Rather than accepting that "religion" and "politics" necessarily belong to two separate spheres, we start by looking at the category of "religion" historically, to see how its meanings change over time. The rest of the course examines the some of the many relations between religion, politics, and power that emerge in different historical contexts in different parts of the world in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Our objective is to understand the many ways in which religion is shaped by and in turn shapes how politics and power are configured in the world today.
This is a co-convened course open to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. The class will be run as a seminar. All participants in the seminar, undergraduate as well as graduate students will be expected to come to class having done the required readings for the week, and to participate actively in class discussions. Any student may, with or without previous intimation, be called upon to make brief presentations in the class. The entire class will meet twice a week, and graduate students in the class will meet with the instructor for an extra hour during the week to discuss the readings that have been assigned to them. Graduate students are also expected to play an important part in leading and guiding class discussions.
REQUIRED READINGS
All Students
1. Talal Asad. Genealogies
of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993.
2. Richard Eaton. Rise
of Islam and the Bengal Frontier. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1996.
! FLASH ! The complete text of this book is now available ON-LINE,
free.
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/6108.html
However, computer screens seldom allow for the careful perusal that this course will demand. Moreover, I may ask you to refer to specific page numbers of a book in class. If you do decide to use the internet version, I would advise you to PRINT the chapters relevant for each class.
3.
Leila Ahmed. A Border Passage:
From Cairo to America - A Woman's Journey. Farrar Straus & Giroux,
1999.
4. Selected Articles on Reserve at the
library, circulated in class, or available in full-text format through
the Internet.
GRADUATE
STUDENTS WILL IN ADDITION READ
1. Jose Casanova. Public
Religions in the Modern World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1994.
2. Peter van der Veer ed. Conversion
to Modernities: The Globalization of Christianity. New York: Routledge,
1996.
3. Peter van der Veer ed. Nation
and Religion: Perspectives on Europe and Asia. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1999.
4. Lila Abu-Lughod. Remaking
Women: Feminism and Modernity in the Middle East. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1998.
UNDERGRADUATE
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
1. One ten page
paper relating religion, power, and politics in any region of the world.
You may write a research paper on a specific religio-political movement,
OR a historiographical essay relating some of the ideas from this course
to the literature about the place of religion in the history of a region
of your choice. The paper will be due on Monday, May 8, in my box at the
history office. A WRITTEN proposal, of one to two pages, and including
a bibliography is due on APRIL 4th,
in class. Please meet with me individually at least TWICE before that time
to discuss your proposal.
3. A one to two
page typed informal report on EACH
of the four sections of the course. These reflections should comment
on the readings assigned for that section, and raise a substantial QUESTION
about that section of the readings. These questions may then be taken up
for discussion in the next class. The reports are due the class before
the scheduled discussion for that section. See course schedule for exact
dates.
4. Regular attendance
and participation in class discussions.
5. NO EXAMS.
Grading and
Assessment
The grades for
the course will be determined according to the following criteria:
Paper 80 points
2 Formal Reviews
40 points (20 points each)
4 Informal Reports
60 points (15 points each)
Class & Discussion
Participation 20 points
TOTAL FOR COURSE
200 POINTS
The grading scale
for the course will be as follows:
180-200 = A;
160-179= B;
140-159= C;
120-139= D;
below 120= F.
Graduate Student Course Requirements
2. Written (informal) reflections on the
GRADUATE readings on a more or less weekly basis, (see class schedule below
for specifics) and these will be submitted to me at least a day in
advance of each graduate class
meeting. (30%)
3. Regular attendance and leading undergraduate
discussions. (10%)
4. Class presentations and participation
(10%)
Grading Scale: 90-100% = A; 80-89% = B; 70-79% = C; 60-69%= D; below
60% = F
2. Formal reviews
of TWO
OF the three major texts used for the class, between three and five pages
each. Look at book reviews in historical or other academic journals for
acceptable reviewing styles and strategies.
1. A 15 page research or historiographical
paper on a topic to be decided upon after consultation with the instructor.
Either just before, or right after the Spring Break, I expect all graduate
students to submit a WRITTEN proposal for the paper outlining its historical
and/or historiographical significance and including at least a tentative
bibliography. All students should meet with me individually at least once
to discuss their proposed paper. (50%)
PLEASE
NOTE: I do not give extensions or incompletes except in the most extreme
cases. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in failing the
course. Please consult the NAU Student Handbook's sections on academic
dishonesty if you are not certain of the meaning of this term. IT IS THE
STUDENTS' RESPONSIBILITY TO FAMILIARIZE HERSELF/HIMSELF WITH THESE MATTERS
AS DEFINED BY THE UNIVERSITY.
Provisional Course Schedule (Subject to Modification)
(Graduate READINGS and DAYS are in CAPS)
Tue. January 18: Course Introduction
Section One: Re-Thinking Religion, Politics, and Power
Thu.
January 20: Talal Asad, Genealogies of Religion. Introduction.
WED. JAN. 21 JOSE CASANOVA. PUBLIC RELIGIONS IN THE MODERN WORLD
CHAPTERS 1 AND 2.
Tue. January 25: Asad Chapter One.
WED. JAN. 26. CASANOVA. PRESENT ON ANY TWO CASE STUDIES FROM PART 2. (THIS CLASS MAY LAST LONGER THAN THE SCHEDULED HOUR!)
Thu. January 27: Asad, Chapter Two.
Tue. February. 1 Asad, Chapter Three.
WED. FEB. 2 CASANOVA, CONCLUSION. (CONTINUE DISCUSSION / PRESENTATION OF PART 2, IF NECESSARY)
Thu. February 3 Asad, Chapter Six.
Tue. February 8 Asad, Chapter Seven.
WED. FEB. 9 DISCUSS ASAD, AND PREPARE FOR LEADING UNDERGRADUATE DISCUSSION.
Thu. February 10 Asad, Chapter Eight.
Informal Report on Section One due.
Tue. February 15 Discussion #1: Religion as Historically Determined Category.
WED. Feb. 16 CONTINUE DISCUSSION OF ASAD (ONLY YOU WANT IT!!)
Section Two: The Creation of Religious Identities: A Case Study
Thu. February 17 Richard Eaton, Rise of Islam. Introduction and Chapter One.
WED. FEB. 18 PETER VAN DER VEER ED. CONVERSION TO MODERNITIES, INTRODUCTION.
Tue. February 22 Eaton, Chapters Two and Three.
Formal Review of Talal Asad's book due.
WED. FEB. 23 CONVERSION, STUDENT PRESENTATIONS ON ANY TWO CHAPTERS FROM 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
Thu. February 24 Eaton, Chapters Four and Five.
Tue. February 29 Eaton Chapters Six and Seven.
WED. MARCH 1 CONVERSION, PRESENTATION ON TWO CHAPTERS FROM 6, 7, 8, 9. PLUS ALL STUDENTS DO CHAPTER 10.
Thu. March 2 Eaton, Chapters Eight and Nine.
Tue.
March 7 - Thu. March 9 SPRING BREAK
Tue. March 14 Eaton, Chapters Ten and Eleven (Conclusion).
Informal Report of Section Two due.
WED. MARCH 15 DISCUSS EATON, PREPARE FOR UNDERGRADUATE DISCUSSION.
Thu. March 16 Discussion #2: What is Religious Identity? How and When did people become Muslim in Bengal?
Section Three: The Modernization of Religion and "Communalism"
Tue.
March 21 David Ludden, "Introduction" from his book, Contesting the
Nation.
WED.
MARCH 22 PETER VAN DER VEER. NATION AND RELIGION. CHAPTERS 1, 2.
Thu.
March 23 Nandy, "Hinduism Versus Hindutva."
URL http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/Socissues/hindutva.html
Formal Review of Eaton due.
Tue. March 28 Achin Vanaik "Situating the Threat of Hindu Nationalism" Economic and Political Weekly of India July 9, 1994, 1729-1748.
Sumit Sarkar, "Fascism of the Sangh Parivar."
URL http://members.xoom.com/indowindow/godown/secular/FOTSP.htm
WED. MARCH 29 VAN DER VEER, PRESENT ON ANY THREE OF CHAPTERS 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (PLEASE BE PREPARED FOR A LONGER CLASS)
Thu.
March 30 Film: Anand Patwardhan's Father Son Holy War: Trial By Fire.
Tue. April 4 Film: Father Son Holy War: Hero Pharmacy.
Informal Report on Section Three due.
WED. APRIL 5 DISCUSS UNDERGRADUATE READINGS, PREPARE DISCUSSION.
Thu. April 6 Discussion # 3: Furies of Modernized Religion.
Section Four: Religion, Gender, and (Trans)National Movements
Tue. April 11 Leila Ahmed, A Border Passage, Chapter One (1-31)
Screening of film Women and Islam, followed by a discussion.
WED. APRIL 12 VAN DER VEER, CHAPTERS 10 AND 11.
Thu. April 13 Ahmed, Chapters Two-Three. (32-67)
Tue. April 18 Ahmed, Chapters Four-Five. (68-134)
WED. APRIL 19 LILA ABU-LUGHOD, REMAKING WOMEN, INTRODUCTION AND PRESENT ON ONE CHAPTER FROM PART ONE.
Thu. April 20 Ahmed, Chapters Six-Seven, (135-178)
Tue. April 25 Ahmed, Chapters Eight-Nine. (179-205)
WED. APRIL 26 ABU-LUGHOD, PRESENT ON ONE CHAPTER FROM PART TWO
Thu. April 27 Ahmed, Chapter Ten. (206-242)
Tue. May 2 Ahmed, Chapter Eleven and Epilogue. (243-307)
Informal report on Section Four due.*
WED. MAY 3 ABU-LUGHOD, PRESENT ON ONE CHAPTER FROM PART THREE.
WE WILL SCHEDULE A WRAPPING-UP OR COURSE REVIEW SECTION DURING EXAM WEEK IF NECESSARY AND POSSIBLE.
Thu. May 4 Discussion: Religion and Women: Oppression or Empowerment?
Formal Review of Ahmed's book due.*
*To keep reading week free, BOTH the above assignments can be turned in on April 27.
Mon.,
May 8 Undergraduate Final Papers Due. Please Deliver to the History
Office before 2 p.m.
FINAL GRADUATE PAPERS DUE, FRIDAY MAY 11 AT NOON