Professional Documents
Culture Documents
FALL 2012
NAH 11
Study and appreciate the contemporary cultural diversity, values and world views of
Muslims living in diverse circumstances and spaces
Introduce the contemporary struggles over religious authority and orthodoxy in some
parts of the Muslim world
To identify with the ideas and practices relating to gender, education and art
To assist students in understanding and appreciating the complexity of the lives of
Muslims in the contemporary world
Challenge and think critically about existing stereotypes about Muslims and Islam
Think critically and constructively about the issues that are discussed
Students are required by university policy to submit soft copies of all papers to VeriGuide. Check the
website http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/ for information on how to submit papers
through VeriGuide
Readings for the course are reserved in the University Library and journal articles are available through
the university e-resource.
Course Grading
Gtje, Helmut. 1996. Arabia Before Islam + Muhammad and His Teachings, in: Helmut
Gtje. The Quran and its Exegesis. Oxford: One World, pp. 1-13.
Peters, FrancisE. 1994. The Life and Work of the Prophet, in: Francis E. Peters. A Reader on
Classical Islam. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 44-67.
September 26: Beliefs and Rituals
Assigned Readings:
Gabriele, Marranci. 2008. Islam: Beliefs, History and Rituals in The Anthropology of Islam.
Oxford. New York: Berg, pp. 13-30.
Amir, Hussain. 2006. Oil and Water: Two Faiths, One God. Kelowna: Copper House, pp 43-68.
Malise, Ruthven. 2012. The Sharia and its Consequences in Islam: a very short introduction.
New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 1-19.
October 3: Islamic Art and Architecture
Assigned Readings:
Mozzati Luca, 2010. Islamic Art. Munich; New York: Prestel. Pp 22-59. (please browse through
the illustrations)
Grabar, Oleg. 1983. "Reflections on the Study of Islamic Art" in Muqarnas I: An Annual on
Islamic Art and Architecture. Oleg Grabar (ed). New Haven: Yale University Press, 1-14.
Ali, Wijdan . 1992. The Status of Islamic Art in the Twentieth Century in Muqarnas IX: An
Annual on Islamic Art and Architecture. Oleg Grabar (ed). Leiden: E.J. Brill. Pp.1-3
October 10: From Islam to Muslims
Assigned readings:
Gabriele, Marranci. 2008. The Anthropology of Islam. Oxford. New York: Berg, pp.13-30.
Amir, Hussain. 2006. Oil and Water: Two Faiths, One God. Kelowna: Copper House, pp69-114.
Leif Manger. 1999. On Becoming Muslim: The Construction of Identities among the Lafofa of
the Sudan in Leif Manger (ed.) Muslim Diversity: Local Islam in Global Contexts. Richmond,
Surrey: Curzon, pp, 224-243
October 17: Representing Islam before and after September 11
Assigned Readings:
Bernard Lewis, (1993) "The Question of Orientalism" in Islam and the West, New York: Oxford
University Press 99-118.
Gabriele, Marranci. 2008. The Anthropology of Islam. Oxford. New York: Berg, pp53-70.
Amir, Hussain. 2006. Oil and Water: Two Faiths, One God. Kelowna: Copper House, pp115-140.
October 24: Islam and the West at Loggerheads
Assigned Readings:
M Huntington, Samuel P. 1993. The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Affairs, Summer.
W Gusterson, Hugh. 2005. The Seven Deadly Sins of Samuel Huntington. In Besteman,
Catherine and Gusterson, Hugh (eds) Why Americas Top Pundits Are Wrong: Anthropologists
Talk Bac, Berkeley: University of California Press (pp. 24-42)
F Said, Edward. 2003. The Clash of Definitions. In Qureshi Emran and Sells Michael A (eds)
The New Crusades: Constructing the Muslim Enemy, New York: Columbia University Press pp.
67-89
October 31: Muslims in Global Contexts
Assigned Readings:
M Silverstein, Paul A. 2000. Sporting Faith: Islam, Soccer and the French Nation-State Social
Text, 18(4): 25-53
W Mamdani, Mahmoud. 2002. Good Muslim, Bad Muslim American Anthropologist, 194(3):
766-775
F Rouse, Carolyn and Janet Hoskins. 2004. Purity, Soul Food, and Sunni Islam Cultural
Anthropology, 19(2): 226-249
Vertovec, Steven. 2002. Islamophobia and Muslim Recognition in Britain, in YvonneYazbeck
Haddad (ed.). Muslims in the West: From Sojourners to Citizens. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, pp. 19-35.
Jorgen Baek, Simonsen. 2002. Globalization in Reverse and the Challenge of Integration:
Muslims in Denmark, in YvonneYazbeck Haddad (ed.). Muslims in the West: From Sojourners
to Citizens. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 121-130.
Mir-Hosseini, Ziba. 2006. Muslim Womens Quest for Equality: Between Islamic Law and
Feminism, Critical Inquiry, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 629-645.
Mir-Hosseini, Ziba. 1994. Strategies of Selection: Differing Notions of Marriage in Iran and
Morocco, in: Camillia El-Solh and Judy Mabro (eds.). Muslim Womens Choices: Religious
Belief and Social Reality. Oxford: Berg, pp. 55-72.
November 28: Deconstructing Stereotypes
Assigned Readings:
Neil, Postman and Steve, Powers. 2008. How to Watch TV News revised edition. New York:
Penguin, Preface, Chapter 1.
Gabriele, Marranci. 2008. The Anthropology of Islam. Oxford. New York: Berg, pp89-102.
Starrett, Gregory. 1998. Learning About God, in: Putting Islam to Work. Education, Politics,
and Religious Transformation in Egypt. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 89-125.
Donnan, Hastings and Martin Stokes. 2002. Interpreting Interpretations of Islam, in:
Hastings Donnan (ed.). Interpreting Islam. London: Sage Publications, pp. 1-19.