MA Middle Eastern Studies

Issues in the Anthropology of Gender

This module introduces students to ethnographic studies in and of the Near and Middle East, the region's resident populations, and its diasporas, viewed through a variety of interconnected topics that have been important in the anthropological literature. The module draws on material on countries such as Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Palestine, and may also include literature on Muslims in South East Asia and Europe. Students will have the opportunity to explore classic and contemporary anthropological themes such as social organization, political economy, religion, gender and sexuality, race/ethnicity, violence and justice, consumption, labour and livelihoods, and social identities, as they take shape in particular locales. The module also encourages students to consider how anthropological and historical understandings help us to recognize the fundamentally interconnected and global nature of any nation, subregion, or region, whose boundaries are often designated or shift as a result of colonial, post-colonial, and neo-colonial social processes and power relations.

This course enriches the existing range of courses on Islamic art and architecture by considering a wide range of artefacts within the particular perspective of cultural contacts with Europe, examining the ways in which Islamic artefacts were acquired, appreciated, utilized and imitated, and placing them also within the wider framework of the developing European intellectual awareness of Islam.

This is part of the on-going curriculum review and reform. This course will now be shared teaching with Arabic 1 A and B (another amalgamation of Arabic 100 A, Arabic 100 A Heritage Students, Arabic 100 B, Arabic 100 B Hertigage students). The purpose is to streamline and simplify the structures of Arabic language acquisition courses in order to achieve cost effective ways of delivery of teaching.

The sacred monuments that arose in emerging states bordering the Maritime Silk Route from the 8th-13th centuries attest to a rapid, transforming and sustained transmission of Buddhist and Hindu Tantras between India and China in this period. This course explores the key texts and the remarkable individuals that together made this fundamental change possible.

This course is designed to introduce the material culture (art, architecture, numismatics, and so-called 'minor arts') of the different peoples and polities of medieval and early modern Anatolia in the Seljuk, Beylik, and early Ottoman periods. Students will learn to analyse the totality of material cultural production and how it changed as the result of economic, social, and historical forces. They will learn to analyse the artistic interplay between Islamic and Christian societies, as well as the artistic manifestations of such subjects as mysticism, chivalry, and Eurasian steppe traditions

This course examines the Islamic art and architecture of the Mediterranean basin between the 12th and 14th centuries, the period of the Crusades. It was a time of dynamism, with the rise of Latin Christian cultures in the north and west, the Reconquista, the Crusades, the eclipse of the Byzantine Empire, and the rise of Turco-Islamic states in its stead. While this course concentrates on Islamic art, it will examine overlaps between Islamic and Christian arts in the eastern Mediterranean during the two centuries of the Crusader states of the eastern Mediterranean. Emphasis will be on dynastic and regional developments, but will also track the rise of the commercialisation of material culture production. It also aims to sample the full range of material culture, complementing traditional emphases on arts of the court and religious art with commercial architecture, numismatics, and archaeological finds.

This module covers the period from the 5th century of the Common Era through to the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in the 14th century . It focusses primarily on the overland routes (Silk and Steppe) that connected China with Central Asia and also Northern India and Persia. Using both archaeological and textual materials, it examines the role of contact, interaction and exchange on the development of material culture (tombs, architecture, textiles, metalwork, ceramics, painting, sculpture, glass) in Central Asia and China.

This module aims at providing a basic knowledge of the main predicaments facing development in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA, encompassing all members of the League of Arab States, with Iran and Turkey for comparative purposes). It follows the sequence of historical development: an assessment of the key features of pre-industrial society in the area and of the impact of European imperial domination sets the scene for contrasting responses to the challenge of modernity in the 20th century. The major ideological undercurrents produced by this confrontation are examined: adaptation to vs. rejection of ‘Western’ modernity within Islam; the rise of populist nationalism and the ‘socialist’ radicalisation of ‘developmentalist’ regimes. Against the background of the ‘oil shocks’, MENA experienced economic liberalisation, with limited political liberalisation occasionally. The post-Cold War U.S. war drive turned the region into the central arena of the so-called ‘clash of civilisations’. The region’s overall anaemic long-term growth performance—except Turkey—points to massive structural problems that constitute the main factors in the Arab uprising that unfolded in 2011. The dynamics of this ongoing regional upheaval will be thoroughly examined.

This module examines ‘water justice’ in the global South from a combined Development Studies and Law perspective. It explores the themes of water rights / right to water, the modalities of access to water, and social movements on water issues.

This module examines ‘water and development’ in the global South from a combined Development Studies and Law perspective. The three main themes in the course are the commodification/marketisation of water, the political ecology of water, and global water governance and conflict.

This course is about the economic structures, institutions and policy challenges in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The module starts with a broad economic history of the region since the mid 19th Century and goes on to address selected aspects of economic policy in the contemporary period in areas related to natural and human resources. Among the topics covered are: the oil sector, labour migration and capital flows, problems of industrialization in resource based economies, and population transition. For the purposes of this course, the MENA region comprises the Arab countries, Iran and Turkey.

This module analyses the economic development of the Middle East, with a greater focus on the resource poor countries of the region. Topics covered include the political economy of aid flow patters to the region, IMF and World Bank reform programmes, and economic liberalisation.

Migration and diaspora are - like gender – not descriptive, objective categories, but analytical tools to name positions of power. In this course we discuss what gendering, diaspora and migration can imply as analytical (not descriptive) categories and how they are constructed interdependently by power relations. We will engage with a range of approaches to gender, migrations and diasporas and will address the social and political dimensions of migration and diasporas as well as politics related to constructions of non/belonging, cultural productions and imaginations.

This module explores Gender as a category of historical analysis based on an exploration of case studies from the histories of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It will analyse gender in relation to other concepts, such as class, race, ethnicity, empire, coloniality, sexuality, etc., and explore how these categories shaped the historical experiences of individuals with various gender identities on the one hand and the histories of empires and nations on the other hand.

This course discusses emerging identities and contending views in the origins and early history of Islam, 600 and 1000 CE. The approach is historical, and examines the crucial question of how different types of Islam emergened.

This postgraduate module examines the various international and domestic factors that led to and fed the wars in Afghanistan (and standoff between the US and Iran) since 1979.

This course aims to offer a critical appraisal of the relationship between law, human rights and peacebuilding in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the first term, we will examine the role and function of international law in the negotiation process by addressing such core issues as land, refugees, settlements, water and Jerusalem. We close the term by examining alternatives to the dominant legal and political discourse, employing historical, critical and comparative perspectives. The second term focuses on human rights violations with a particular emphasis on enforcement mechanisms (domestic courts, international courts and NGOs) and transitional justice concepts.

This module critically explores the different theoretical perspectives of the relationship between Human Rights and Islamic law and examines the practices of some relevant Muslim-majority States in that regard.

This half course aims to examine the substantive bodies of law and procedure and the legal systems in operation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in modern times, in particular regard to their treatment of and interaction with gender, women's rights and normative claims and practices in society. Further context is given by consideration of the increasing reach of international legal instruments governing a broad spectrum of legal activities implicated in the study of gender, law and society.

The course offers a critical appraisal of the role of international law in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In Part I, we will explore the international legal history of the conflict from the Balfour Declaration 1917 to the UN Partition Plan 1947 to the Occupation in 1967. In Part II we take a critical look at the law of occupation with a particular focus on the indeterminacies of the law of occupation, the application of human rights to occupied territory, the Wall, and Food Security. In Part III, we turn to the international law of self- determination and an analysis of the Oslo peace process. The course will close with an assessed class research conference.

This module provides a detailed examination of Islamic family law, covering the laws of marriage, dissolution of marriages, guardianship and child custody. These are examined in light of classical rules of Islamic jurisprudence and recent family law reforms in different parts of the Muslim world and also with relevant examples from UK cases. Taking the different areas of family law in turn, we examine the development of positions in the different jurisprudential schools (including the sources on which the classical schools relied) before considering later (colonial and post colonial) treatment of and approaches to these areas of law in states' courts and codes. A focus on codification and the modern state's identity as legislator is highlighted. Approaches to reform of particular areas of law by different social actors are considered, including the use they make of classical and post-classical sources.

This module presents, from a comparative legal perspective, an overview of Islamic law in its theoretical, historical and jurisprudential evolution. Islamic legal theory (Usul al-Fiqh) is considered from a comparative perspective with a critical analysis of its history, development and application in contemporary jurisdictions. An overview of the historical and jurisprudential themes includes the relationship between sacred texts and human reason in the development of the law, dissent and consensus in the articulation of the law, law and morality and normative pluralism.

The module examines the substantive bodies of law and procedure and the legal systems in operation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in modern times, including in their relationship with regional and international normative systems.

This module offers training in practical translation from English into a number of languages offered by SOAS, including Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Persian, Turkish and Swahili. Students are expected to take one language strand, but may take two.

This module offers training in practical translation into English from a number of languages offered by SOAS including Arabic, Chinese, Persian, Turkish and Swahili. Students are expected to take one language strand, but may take two.

This module provides a critical understanding of the theoretical and conceptual approaches to the relationship between communication, culture, arts and politics in the Middle East.

Transnational Communities and Diasporic Media:Networking, Connectivity, Identity.

International Political Communication

The Jewish people have been on the move for as long as they’ve been called Jews. Key dates of expulsion define Jewish history - 586 BCE, 1492, post-1948 - but took place in regions that are today associated with Sephardi/Mizrahi Judaism. This class will consider the musical styles of the Jews of Arab lands through the experience of exile and diaspora. Focusing on the languages, rituals and musical styles that developed over centuries across the Arab world, we will examine how the experience of Jewish exile helped to shape Middle Eastern and North African soundworlds.

Morocco is unique in its religious, cultural and musical diversity. With a Jewish population that dates back over a thousand years, a Berber population that has its own languages, and former slaves who were brought from sub-Saharan Africa over centuries, Morocco’s official culture is a diverse array of ethnic minorities who are often invisible in other parts of the Middle East and North Africa. This module delves into the musical genres that make Morocco unique, from Andalusi to Gnawa, including contemporary Judeo-Arabic pop, hip hop post-Arab spring, and the religious practices of Jews and Muslims.

This module will examine modern and contemporary expressions of Islamic (reformist) thought and practices. It will draw on theory and methods from the study of religions in general (e.g. sociology, hermeneutics and phenomenology), as well as Islamic studies in particular (Quran, hadith and jurisprudence) in order to illuminate key areas of debate and discussion, while not excluding other approaches, such as anthropology, law, and gender studies, where appropriate.

This module is based on the close reading of texts and their examination within their broader literary and historical context. ?As such it is a language use module whose objective is to make an intensive study of a selection of texts (prose and poetry) in literary Ottoman, from different periods and genres.

This module is primarily an advanced language use course (MA In Theory and Practice of Translation [Asia & Africa]), however, the study of the literary history of Iran and the development of Persian poetry complements the study of Persian culture and the cultural characteristics of the wider region of Near & Middle East and Asia (MA in Cultural Studies).

This is a Beginners course in Modern Standard Arabic.The main emphasis is on mastering the basic structures of Modern Standard Arabic as a means of communication, particularly in relation to journalism, with equal emphasis on reading, writing, speaking and hearing.

This is a closely supervised Arabic into English translation project for students enrolled in the two-year MA (discipline or subject area) and Intensive Arabic that complements and reinforces the language skills the students are acquiring in the co-requisite course, Arabic 4 PG. Students will choose with the help of the supervisor one Arabic text of approximately 6000 words at the appropriate level and translate it into English, and one English text of approximately 6000 words at the appropriate level to translate into Arabic, utilising, honing, reinforcing and supplementing students' knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, registers and styles of the Arabic language, bringing these forward from passive learning into active use.

This is an Intermediate course in Modern Standard Arabic. The main emphasis is on mastering the basic structures of Modern Standard Arabic as a means of communication, particularly in relation to journalism, with equal emphasis on reading, writing, speaking and hearing. News broadcasts are introduced, and oral competence is developed through extensive use of media resources as well as in small-group conversation classes, where some elements of colloquial Arabic are also introduced.

The dissertation is a core component of all Masters programmes at SOAS. The supervised dissertation research requires the ability to work independently on an original piece of research, to demonstrate familiarity with the relevant literature and present the resulting dissertation in a clear and organised format. The research and writing of the Masters dissertation is a crucial component of Research-based Masters training.? The dissertation has a 10,000 word limit and counts for 33% of the overall degree.

The aim of the course is to provide an overview of the ways in which varying bodies of scholarship across and intra-various disciplines engage and study Palestine, and also an examination of how the study of Palestine cuts across and informs scholarly, theoretical, political and disciplinary approaches. The course addresses issues relating to the questions of conflict and political economy, development, cultural politics, social and economic relations, identity, and other major concerns of humanities and social sciences.

The aim of the course is to provide an overview of the ways in which varying bodies of scholarship across and intra-various disciplines engage and study Palestine, and also an examination of how the study of Palestine cuts across and informs scholarly, theoretical, political and disciplinary approaches. The course addresses issues relating to the questions of conflict and political economy, development, cultural politics, social and economic relations, identity, and other major concerns of humanities and social sciences.

This module approaches Zionism analytically, and examines its changing meaning and praxis. We look at a wide selection of sources and secondary literature, by sympathisers, opponents and critics of Zionism. The class will look at the main debates regarding the Zionist movement, both historically and current.

The module covers several basic constructions of the language, enabling students to acquire basic skills in reading, writing, comprehension and speaking. Emphasis will be placed on good pronunciation and on the social and linguistic conventions of everyday conversation.

This module develops knowledge of several basic constructions of the language, enabling students to develop their skills in reading, writing, comprehension and speaking. Emphasis will be placed on good pronunciation and on the social and linguistic conventions of everyday conversation.

Hebrew.

This module develops knowledge of several basic constructions of the language, enabling students to develop their skills in reading, writing, comprehension and speaking. Successful students will gain the ability to read and write simple texts, and communicate on everyday topics.

This module provides a historical overview of the Israel-Palestine conflict, from late Ottoman Palestine, through the 1948 war and the establishment of Israel, to the Oslo accords. The module interrogates the historical dynamic in Palestine/Israel and its contestations through social and cultural history.

The course provides for the teaching and learning of lower-intermediate level Persian language with emphasis on practical written and spoken Persian. The course introduces complex sentence structures including relatives clauses, as well as more focused use of idiomatic structures in Persian writing and discourse. By the end of this module students should be able to describe experiences, events, plans, hopes and concerns in both spoken and written language with ease and confidence. Furthermore, they should be able to interact on topics of everyday work, leisure and travel.

The module provides for the teaching and learning of upper-intermediate level Persian language with emphasis on practical as well as nuianced written and spoken Persian. The course introduces complex sentence structures including conditional sentences, as well as more use of abstract or technical terminology in Persian writing and discourse. By the end of this module students should be able to relate detailed experiences, as well as discuss and understand concrete and abstract topics, in both spoken and written language with ease and confidence.

This is a basic language acquisition module for students who have already studied the language 1A equivalent in the previous term, or who have equivalent knowledge. Students are therefore assumed to have some basic knowledge of the language or its script. This module develops knowledge of some of the several basic constructions of the language, enabling students to develop their skills in reading, writing, comprehension and speaking.

This is a basic introductory language acquisition module for absolute beginners in the written and spoken language; students are not assumed to have any previous knowledge of the language or its script. The module covers several basic constructions of the language, enabling students to acquire basic skills in reading, writing, comprehension and speaking.

The course focuses on the transition from empire to republic, examining the key turning points and assessing the relevance of the events of the 1908-1945 period for understanding Modern Turkey.

Reading Classical Arabic Historians: Themes and Trends in Islamic Historiography

This is a lower advanced language acquisition course that will reinforce competence in grammar and syntax, widen active vocabulary, and simultaneously develop listening and speaking skills.Letter writing skills will be introduced. Oral competence is developed in conversation classes and by using audio-video material.

This is a lower advanced language acquisition course that will reinforce competence in grammar and syntax, widen active vocabulary, and simultaneously develop listening and speaking skills.

This is an upper intermediate language acquisition module that builds on Arabic 3A, providing students with a firmer foundation in Arabic grammar, and training them in the active use of the language through writing exercises that draw on and reinforce a number of skills including knowledge of grammar, syntax, phraseology and general and specialised terminology. Writing skills will also be further built through targeted translation exercises. The module also includes an oral component where students are trained in speaking the colloquial register of the language.

This is an intermediate language acquisition module that builds on Arabic 1 and Arabic 2, providing students with a firmer foundation in Arabic grammar, and training students in the active use of the language through writing exercises that draw on and reinforce a number of skills including knowledge of grammar, syntax, phraseology and general and specialised terminology. Writing skills will also be further built through targeted translation exercises. The module also includes an oral component where students are trained in speaking the colloquial register of the language.

The module provides teaching and learning of advanced level Arabic language. It covers a wide variety of texts in topics such as literature, politics, religion, science, etc. Teaching will cover reading, analysing, writing, listening and speaking. There will be a series of special postgraduate lectures with associated seminars structured around the six themes of structure, texts, identity, society, translation and transformation (provided for PG students studying different languages). These will introduce students to general questions of the role of language in language-based scholarship and research, and will provide them with the critical and methodological skills to relate their language acquisition to the thematic aspects of the study.

This is a high advanced language acquisition course

Arabic 5 A (PG)

This is an advanced language acquisition course.

Arabic 2 B (PG)

This module completes the coverage of the grammar and syntax of Modern Standard Arabic at an intermediate level and trains students in reading, comprehending and writing with the help of a dictionary more complex Arabic sentences and passages.

The course provides students with intermediate knowledge of Turkish and practice of using Turkish in a variety of everyday and more specialised situations, including the understanding and expression of opinions and different points of view. Texts for study are selected from newspapers and magazines, scholarly articles and literary works (short stories and excerpts from novels).

The course provides teaching and learning of intermediate level Turkish language with emphasis on practical written and spoken Turkish. The course covers complex points of word and sentence structure as well as textual relations in Turkish writing and discourse.

The module will offer a survey of films from the Arab world, Turkey, Iran, and Israel, as well as an overview of the historical development of film in the region and a grounding in the socio-cultural contexts in which films have been produced. Films will be analysed aesthetically, with an awareness of multiple aspects of film technique, and meanings will be interrogated through a number of interdisciplinary and theoretical prisms.

The module will offer a survey of films from the Arab world, Turkey, Iran, and Israel, as well as an overview of the historical development of film in the region and a grounding in the socio-cultural contexts in which films have been produced. Films will be analysed aesthetically, with an awareness of multiple aspects of film technique, and meanings will be interrogated through a number of interdisciplinary and theoretical prisms.

This module develops oral, aural, writing and reading proficiency in Modern Hebrew, with equal attention to the colloquial and the formal. All aspects of Hebrew grammar and syntax are introduced, some at a basic level, and vocabulary is enriched and enhanced by the introduction of more complicated texts from different sources and on a variety of topics.

This module develops oral, aural, writing and reading proficiency in Modern Hebrew, with equal attention to the colloquial and the formal. All aspects of Hebrew grammar and syntax are introduced, some at a basic level, and vocabulary is enriched and enhanced by the introduction of more complicated texts from different sources and on a variety of topics.

This module takes the Area Studies of Asia, Africa and the Middle East (AAME) as a field to be pulled into focus through the lens of the regions themselves. It achieves this through attending to questions of what the concept of area/region/nation connotes in the context of AAME and, in particular, how that concept has been mediated through the effects of colonialism and colonial forms of knowledge production. With the objective of decolonising Area Studies of AAME and of looking at its transformation both conceptually and in practice, the module brings to the fore key texts that have emerged from AAME and examines them from the perspective of geographical spaces that provide alternatives to Area Studies in the Western world.

This course provides the opportunity to focus on major historical and contemporary issues which have dominated public imagination. It examines issues including the role and meaning of Islam in the Middle East, ‘Islamic’ terrorism, Islamophobia, ‘sectarian’ and ‘ethnic’ violence, the political language of Islam and democracy, veiling and women’s rights.

The Qur’an serves not only as the foundational text of Islam, but also as the pre-eminent literary masterpiece of the Arabic language. With the aim of situating the text of the Qur’an within its historical and literary contexts, Part A of this module is aggregated around a percipient gauging of the discourses dominating the academic study of the Qur’an. Broaching the study of the text through a critical array of Arabic primary sources, the subjects and themes covered in the module include the Qur'an's language, structure, and composition; and thematic content.

Preserved in the form of individual reports and dicta, the literary material of the hadiths (Prophetic traditions) serves as one of the foundational textual sources of the Islam. The classical traditions of learning associated with the study of the hadith have a distinguished literary heritage, spanning across many centuries. This module examines the hadiths, reflecting upon their theoretical importance with the matrices of classical Islamic thought. Introducing the academic scholarship which has defined the study of traditions, the module gauges the significance of the classical forms of writing which developed around their collection and analysis as formulated by scholars.

The module examines the interaction between politics and the various expressions of Islam in the modern period. It is organised around three main themes: 1) Islam in Western scholarship, with a focus on theories, concepts and methodologies used to study Islam and Muslim societies. 2) Islam as a social and political force in the contemporary period. Here, we will focus on those social and political movements and parties that actively affirm and promote prescriptions, laws, or policies that are held to be Islamic in character, often, though not necessarily, organised around the idea of establishing the Islamic state.

This module traces the emergence of contemporary political theories within the Islamic worlds from the nineteenth century until the present. To that end, both the political philosophy of prominent Islamic thinkers and the specific historical circumstances they were writing in, will be examined. The seminar thus investigates the epistemology of contemporary Islam, developing a critical disposition towards Islamic political theories along the way. On the one side, it explores the range of socio-economic, gender, political and cultural theories that transcend terms such as “Islamism”, “political Islam” and “Islamic fundamentalism”. On the other side, it explains the intellectual habitat out of which movements such as HAMAS, Islamic Jihad, Hesbollah, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamic revolution in Iran emerged.

This module focuses on key issues in the study of politics in the Middle East. It deals with theoretical and empirical questions that are central to the field. The main questions pertain to forms of societal organisation and patterns to state-society interaction. To understand the modes of societal action, the module examines the bases upon which social and political forces are constituted, and the forms of power deployed in the interplay between state and societal actors. Integral to this examination is reflection on the analytical and conceptual tools used to understand and explain state-society relations. Concepts such as class, kin, tribe, sect, civil society, and informal politics are critically examined and assessed.

This module is a seminar on ethnic violence. During the module, we will read classic and recent scholarly works that address various aspects of this question using different methods and approaches. In the first part, we will review the key debates on the concepts of ethnicity and identity, and discuss their implications for the study of ethnic violence. Then, we will shift our focus to theories of ethnic conflict and violence in order to understand examples from different parts of the world where conflict among different groups has resulted in varying degrees and types of violence. Throughout the course, we will have a strictly theoretical and empirical focus, and aim to answer the following questions: How do ethnic identities become politically relevant? What causes ethnic groups to engage in violent conflict? Can explanations of ethnic violence help us understand non-ethnic forms of violence?

This module offers Masters students focusing on Middle East politics an opportunity to reflect critically upon ideas of counterhegemony and resistance as ways of understanding politics and political struggle in the Middle East. Much of the literature on politics in the Middle East foregrounds the dominant structures of power, dominant ideologies and the varied forms of hegemony. Less studied are the ways in which variously situated groups and individuals throughout the region have tried to negotiate with, subvert and resist these forms of hegemony and the mixed outcomes of many of these struggles. The module will take certain general themes and illustrate them through specific case studies from different countries in the Middle East.

The module introduces postgraduate students in the Department of Politics to the urban politics of the Middle East. It aims to provide them with an interdisciplinary grounding in the study of a wide range of urban issues that have implications for understanding political life in the region.

This course introduces MSc Middle East Politics students to the politics of solidarity and transnationalism, with a particular focus on the Arab world during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Since the age of European colonial rule in the Middle East came to an end around the Second World War, nominally independent nation-states in the region have tried to negotiate the opportunities and challenges of the Cold War, regional conflict and co-operation, underdevelopment, and more recently, globalisation. This module takes up the study of this rich politics through two different approaches, the first thematic, the second through the study of inter-state politics. After examining the methodological issues involved in the study of the Middle East and becoming familiar with the regions role during the Cold War and thereafter, we will examine important themes and debates in international politics of the Middle East, including war and militarism, ethnicity, development and globalisation, migration and ideological movements. In the latter part of the module, through a more conventional examination of inter-state politics of the Middle East, we will focus on conflict and cooperation between the Arab states in the region and their non-Arab neighbours, Israel, Iran and Turkey.

The course begins by establishing the religion in a historical context starting with early Muslim migrations and settlement in Britain in the 19th century, through the various phases of subsequent migrations, to the institutionalising of Islam in Britain in the early twentieth century and the emergence of community leaders. Within this framework it will cover the different ethnic, sectarian and doctrinal approaches to Islam belonging to and/or adopted by migrants and second and third generation Muslims. The second part of the course will focus on particular issues that have arisen, uniquely, out of the above context and in response to world events.