RELS 155 Islam and the West

The course surveys the varied, historical dialogue between Islam and the West. The course traces the transformational influence Islam and the West have had on each other from the expansion of the Islamic Empire into Europe, to the eruption of Western modernity and European colonialism and imperialism, and through the reactions in Islamicate cultures to the pressures of Western economic, cultural, and political forces. The course will also examine the way Muslim migration to the West has affected not just Western culture and politics, but has also led to the transformation of Islamic ideas, practices, and identity by "Western" Muslims.