2.0

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Average Course Rating

Islamic ideas and actors play an important part in global politics today. Their impact on political change, international security, and economic and social trends has shaped international relations in recent years. The rise of Islamist activism has been central to this development. This course will examine the role that Islamism plays in politics in Muslim countries; trace the origins and development of its formative ideas; introduce the key forces that represent it; and analyze its development and conception of politics and international relations. The Course will introduce the foundational ideas of Islamism, examine the life and works of key thinkers and leaders, and trace the development of leading movements and ideological trends in the context of political and international developments of the past three decades. It will trace the evolution of Islamist thinking from the colonial era through periods of state formation to current debates over future of the Muslim world. The course will discuss continuity and change in Islamist thinking, and the different paths the Islamist discourse has evolved along. The course will rely on theoretical literature and analyses of Islamist movements along with examination of case studies of relations between states and Islamic movements to provide students with both intimate knowledge of the subject and a framework of analysis for understanding Islamic activism in the context of comparative politics and global affairs. <a href="http://bit.ly/1bebp5s" target="_blank">Click here to see evaluations, syllabi, and faculty bios</a>