Anthropology of Islam

Introduction to Islamic practices and the diversity of Islamic traditions as well as to how anthropologists have engaged with these practices and traditions, in their local variations, transnational connections, and global representations. After preliminary discussions of the early history of Islam and the fundamentals of practice and belief, the course will explore such topics as mysticism and local Islams, early and late twentieth century debates about modernity, notions of gendered piety and the body, banking and finance, as well as legal practices, media technologies and Islam in Europe and the United States. The course is open to students both familiar and unfamiliar with Islam.

008289