MENA 385: Introduction to Political Islam (Crosslisted: HIST/POL)

Political Islam has become one of the most ubiquitous forces across the Muslim world in the last four decades. While most of these movements share a common commitment to promoting Islamic morality and resisting external forces, there is enormous diversity and change within what is generalised as "Islamism". Student will learn to grasp the basic differences as well as overlaps in identity and approach between the major streams of contemporary political Islam with regard to popularity and location, preference for armed vs. political strategies, nationalism vs. Pan-Islamist orientation, sectarian attitudes, levels of pragmatism, etc. Students are expected to be familiar with basic history, geography and religious terminology of the Muslim world prior to taking this course.