This course has three primary objectives. First, to introduce students to the main historical, thematic, and literary features of the Qur’an as both a scripture considered sacrosanct and infallible by Muslims and as a literary text whose style, imagery, and poetics have exerted a wide-ranging influence on the development of art, culture, and intellectual and social life of Muslims from North and West Africa to Russia, Central Asia, China, and Indonesia. Second, to assist students in refining their thinking, speaking, and writing skills by discussing a major world scripture and its role as an ideological and intellectual force that shapes, and is itself shaped by, the experiences of its followers across time and space. Third, to foster an informed and sophisticated understanding of the role and place of the Qur’an in contemporary Muslim life thought and practice. To achieve these goals, the course explores how classical forms of appreciation and interpretation of the Qur’an have transitioned into the present and have been reshaped, often drastically, by the geopolitical, social and cultural condition of the human race that we call “modernity".
Course Requirements:
- Two short essays (4-6 pp. each): 15% each; 30% overall.
- One mid-term exam (essays/commentaries on one or two Qur’anic passages and identifications of personalities, concepts/terms and places): 20%.
- A final exam (responses to questions and commentaries on two Qur’anic passages).
- Attendance and participation in discussion: 25%.
Intended Audience:
All first-year students
Class Format:
Two 90-minute meetings weekly