Handbook

Contrary to the popular perception that the Middle East is the core of the Islamic world, countries in the Asia-Pacific region host the largest, but also ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse Muslim population in the world. Applying concepts and methodologies drawn from anthropology, history, political science, religious and gender studies, this course will explore the multiplex nature of Islam and Muslim ways of life from global, regional, and cross-cultural perspectives. You will examine the historical spread of Islam, much-debated issues such as the representation of Muslim women's agency, the contested nature of  ‘War on Terror', and Islam in practice through the prism of colonialism and otherness. Your regional focus will be on Indonesia, Malaysia, the Indian subcontinent, Myanmar, China, Australia, Afghanistan, and post-socialist/Soviet countries in Central Asia. In order to amplify quotidian and lived experiences of life in diverse Muslim societies in the Asia- Pacific region, this course will also offer a critical analysis of the concepts such as Islamic modernism, Sunni and Shia Islam, Sufism and Islamic syncretism.