HIS 560 Religion and Colonialism

Th 2:20-4:50 LA 203

Instructor: Scott S. Reese Office: BIO 208

Office Hours: 11:30-1pm T, Th and by appointment

Tel.: 523-9049

Email: scott.reese@nau.edu

Course url: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~ssr7/HIS560Religion_and_colonialism

Instructor’s Webpage: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~ssr7

For more than forty years “colonialism” has been a staple of graduate school inquiry. Politics, economics and sexuality have all come under scrutiny within the colonial paradigm. Spirituality, however, is one aspect of human society frequently ignored within the walls of the seminar room. How has religion served as a tool of conquest? How has it acted to support resistance? How do the beliefs of both conquered and conqueror change as a result of the colonial encounter? Focusing primarily on European imperialism this course explores both the role of religion within the colonial enterprise as well as the impact of colonial rule on the spiritual worlds of the colonized.

Required texts:

Orientalism, Edward Said (Vintage Press, 1994)

Colonial Saints: Discovering the Holy in the Americas Allan Greer and Jodi Bilinkoff, eds. (Routledge, 2003)

The Devil in the New World, Fernando Cervantes (New Haven: Yale U. Press,1997).

Sacred Revolt: The Muskogees’ Struggle for a New World, Joel W. Martin (Beacon Press, 1991).

The Kongolese St. Anthony, John K. Thornton (Cambridge: CUP, 1998)

Moors, Turks and Englishmen, N.I. Matar (New York: Columbia U. Press, 2000)

An Occasion for War, Leila Fawaz (Berkley: University of California Press, 1994)

Secluded Scholars: Women’s Education and Muslim Social Reform in Colonial India, Gail Minault (Oxford, India: 1998).

The Politics of Muslim Cultural Reform, Adeeb Khalid (Berkley: U. of California Press, 1999)

To Dwell Secure, Meredith McKittrick (Heineman, 2002)

Imperial Encounters, Peter Van der Veer (Princeton: Princeton U. Press, 2001).

The New Crusades, Emran Qureishi and Michael Sells eds. (New York: Columbia U. Press, 2003)

Optional

Spiritual Encounters, Nicholas Griffith and Fernando Cervantes eds. (Nebraska, 1999)

The above books are Required Readings for all students in the course and are available at the NAU Bookstore. Other weekly readings are listed within the body of the syllabus and will be available either on electronic or print reserve in Cline Library. In order to access these use the following URL http://www.nau.edu/library/courses/spring04/his560- reese/

Assessment of Outcomes: As a graduate course the primary means of evaluating student performance will be frequent written assignments and class discussion.

1. Reaction Papers: During the course of the semester each student is required to submit six (6) critical evaluations of the week’s readings. These should be 3-5 double-spaced pages in length (1 inch margins, font no larger than 12 point). Essays should not merely recapitulate the arguments of the author/s, but should approach the readings with a critical eye and seek to identify both the strengths and weaknesses of a given author’s point of view. Papers on a given set of readings are due in class on the day they are discussed. Papers for readings other than those being discussed during a given week will not be accepted.

2. Historiographic Essay: All students will be required to write a 15-20 page historiographic essay on a subject related to the topic of the course. Each essay should be aimed at delineating the major arguments and schools of thought regarding a particular issue as well as a detailed overview of the current literature on a given topic. As this is an assignment designed to acquaint you with the scholarly literature on a given topic the use of web sources will not be permitted. Essays will be due at the last class meeting. Criteria sheets will follow.

3. Participation: The idea of the graduate seminar is based on the notion of a free and open (and spirited!) exchange of ideas through discussion. Hence, arriving to class prepared and ready to engage the material through active participation is a crucial part of the course. Those who come to class unprepared or fail to take an active part in discussion on a regular basis will be docked accordingly.

4. Discussion Leader: Each week one or two seminar participants (depending on class size) will be responsible for initiating that week’s discussion. Discussion leaders are neither expected nor asked to provide a synopsis of the readings. Rather, the role of the discussion leader/s is to provide their own “take” on the readings and posit thoughtful questions in order to stimulate the exchange of ideas.

5. Oral Presentation: The last two class meetings will be devoted to oral presentations on individual historiographic essays. Students will need to provide a brief (10 minute) synopsis of their project and be prepared to field questions from the other seminar participants.

Note1: Missing more than 2 class meetings may seriously jeopardize your ability to pass this course.

Note 2: As in any course plagiarism is completely unacceptable. Any form of academic dishonesty may result in a failing grade for the course.

Course Evaluation:

Your course grades will be based on the following distribution:

Reaction Papers--30%

Historiographic Essay—25%

Participation --25%

Discussion Leader – 10%

Oral Presentation – 10%

A standard grading scale will be in use

90%+= A; 80-89% =B; 70-79%=C; 60-69%=D; below 60%=F

Weekly Schedule of Topics (Bear in mind this is a guide. Readings and assignments may be subject to modification):

Part I—

Wk 1-- Jan 15 Introduction: religion and colonialism or colonialism and religion?

Wk 2 -- Jan 22 Religion and Spirituality as categories of historical inquiry

Readings: Said, Orientalism

Asad, Genealogies of Religion pp. 1-54 (on e-reserve)

Wk 3 – Jan 29 “Christianization” and the “New World”

Readings:

Greer & Bilinkoff, Colonial Saints,

Wk4 – Feb 05 “They All Look Alike?” Europeans and construction of the “other”

Readings:

Matar, Turks, Moors, and Englishmen,

Wk 5 – Feb 12 The Devil you know?

Readings:

Cervantes, The Devil in the New World,

Wk 6 – Feb 19 Spiritual Resistance

Readings:

Thornton, The Kongolese St. Anthony,

OR

Martin, Sacred Revolt*

*Which seminar participants are reading which book will be determined at least one week in advance.

Wk 7 – Feb 26 Non-European Encounters

Readings:

Fawaz, An Occasion for War

Ussama Makdisi, “Ottoman Orientalism,” in The American Historical Review v. 107, No. 3, June 2002, pp. 768-796 (on e-reserve)

Wk 8 – Mar 04 Islam and the Raj

Readings:

Minault, Secluded Scholars,

Muhammad Qasim Zaman, The ulama in contemporary Islam : custodians of change Intro and Ch. 1 pp. 1-37 (on e-reserve)

Wk 9 Mar 11 Reform on the Steppes

Readings:

Adeeb Khalid, The Politics of Muslim Cultural Reform,

Juan I. Cole, “Printing and Urban Islam in the Mediterranean World, 1890-1920” in Modernity and Culture, From the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean,” Leila Fawaz and C.A. Bayly eds. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002)pp. 344-364. (on e-reserve)

March 18 Spring Break!!!!

Wk 10 Mar 25 Onward Christian Soldiers—Conversion, Accommodation and Resistance in British Africa

Readings:

McKittrick, To Dwell Secure

“Revealing Prophets,” in Revealing Prophets: Prophecy in Eastern African History, David M. Anderson and Douglas H. Johnson eds. (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1995) pp. 1-27. (on e-reserve)

“Visions of the Vanquished, Prophets and Colonialism in Kenya’s Western Highlands,” in Revealing Prophets: Prophecy in Eastern African History David M. Anderson and Douglas H. Johnson eds. (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1995) pp. 164-194. (on e-reserve)

Wk 11 Apr 1 No Class, work on bibliographic essays (No foolin’)

Wk 12 Apr 8 Religion and the Nationalist Struggle

Readings:

Van der Veer, Imperial Encounters

Wk 13 Apr 15 Of Mullahs and Strawmen

Readings:

Qureishi & Sells, The New Crusades

Wks. 14-15 (Apr 22 and 29) Individual presentations

Final papers due April 29 (last class meeting)