RELI 330 - Religion, Critical Theory and Politics

Semester Offered: Fall and Spring
1 unit(s)

Advanced study in selected aspects of religion and contemporary philosophical and political theory. May be taken more than once for credit when content changes.

Topic for 2022/23a: Islam, Decolonization and Reform. (Same as AFRS 330 and INTL 330) In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a groundswell of reform in Islamic thought emerged, taking up the challenges, anxieties, and injustices posed by colonial and imperial politics. The meaning of Islam in the twentieth century, to Muslims and non-Muslims alike, was shaped by these social theorists and the political movements that they participated in. Reformist Islamic thought was entangled with processes of decolonization and revolution in Muslim-majority lands around the world – not only the gaining of national sovereignty by formerly colonized territories, but the decolonization of minds, communities, societies, morals, gender relations, & patterns of thought. How did political projects of revolution and resistance relate to projects of theological and moral revival in Islam? How did Muslim intellectuals around the world draw on the US Black radical tradition to theorize colonization and race? How did these projects contribute to the emergence of the “Muslim world” as an idea? This course surveys the development of modernist Islamic reform movements during the period of political decolonization, and explores the relationship between Islamic social theory and decolonial thought in the contemporary context. Kirsten Wesselhoeft.

Prerequisite(s): One course in Religion or Africana Studies or permission of the instructor.

Topic for 2022/23b: Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights. Holy or heretical? Sensual or symbolic? All of the above?Hieronymus Bosch’s so-called “Garden of Earthly Delights” (circa 1490-1510), currently housed in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, is one of the greatest enigmas of art history and religious studies. This course, which takes place before a specially-created meticulous full-scale exact facsimile of the work, explores the mysteries of the painting in its religious, social, psychological, art historical and cultural contexts. Marc Epstein.

Prerequisite(s): Permission of the instructor.

One 2-hour period.

Course Format: CLS