College Schools, Departments & Programs

Islamic Studies

Certificate in Islamic Studies
Purpose

The Certificate in Islamic Studies provides students with comparative and interdisciplinary training needed to prepare them for careers in government, non-government organizations, and business where knowledge of Islam and the Muslim world is beneficial, and for graduate-level work in both disciplinary and area studies units.

Requirements

Students must complete at least 24 credit hours, including all other College requirements for certificates and the following requirements:

  1. Islamic Studies Core. Complete one course:
    • REL-A 270 Introduction to Islam
    • HIST-C 205 Introduction to Islamic Civilization
    • NELC-N 265 Introduction to Islamic Civilization
  2. Geographic Regions. Complete at least one course in two separate geographical regions of the Muslim world from the Geographical Regions course list (two courses total)
  3. Additional Geographic Region or Thematic Area. Choose one of the following:
    • Complete at least one course in a geographic region separate from the regions selected in Requirement 2 above
    • Complete at least one course from the Thematic Areas course list
  4. Electives. Complete electives, as needed, to complete remaining requirements. Select from the following:
    • Any course from the Geographical Regions course list
    • Any course from the Thematic Areas course list
    • Up to 6 credit hours of third-year coursework from the Approved Languages list
  5. Additional Requirements.
    • At least 9 credit hours in the above courses at the 300-400 level
    • At least 3 credit hours in the above courses at the 400 level
Approved Courses List
Geographical Regions

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • AFRI-L 100 Topics in African Society and Culture (approved topics only)
  • AFRI-L 202 Occultism in Africa
  • AFRI-L 231 / HIST-H 227 African Civilization
  • AFRI-L 232 Contemporary Africa (approved topics only)
  • ANTH-E 300 Culture Areas and Ethnic Groups (Approved topic: Islam in and out of Africa)
  • ARTH-A 255 Topics in African Art History (Approved topics only)
  • ARTH-A 355 Art, Craft, and Technology in Sub-Saharan Africa
  • ARTH-A 453 Art of Sub-Saharan Africa I: Arts of Africa’s Western Sudan
  • ARTH-A 454 Art of Sub-Saharan Africa II: Arts of the West African Coast
  • HIST-E 300 Issues in African History (Approved topics only)
  • HIST-E 338 History of Muslim West Africa
  • HIST-J 300 Seminar in History (Approved topics only)

Middle East and North Africa

  • ANTH-E 386 Performance, Culture, and Power in the Middle East and North Africa
  • CEUS-R 292 Introduction to Turkic and Iranian Civilization (Approved topics: Language and Society in Turkey; Society and Politics in Modern Iran)
  • CEUS-R 351 Prophets, Poets, Kings: Iranian Civilization
  • CEUS-R 352 Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East/NELC-N 397/ANTH-E 397 (Approved topic: Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East)
  • CEUS-R 354 Persian Literature in Translation
  • CEUS-R 380 Literature of the Ottoman Court in Translation
  • CEUS-R 382 Cultural History of the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey
  • CEUS-R 386 Islam, Islamism and Modernity in Turkey
  • CEUS-R 389 Topics in Turkish Studies (Approved topic: History of the Turkish Republic)
  • CMLT-C 291 Studies in Non-Western Film (Approved topics only)
  • CMLT-C 370 Comparative Studies in Western and Middle Eastern Literatures
  • FOLK-F 215 Health and Morbidity in Traditional Cultures
  • FOLK-F 307 Middle Eastern Folklore/Folklife/Folk Music
  • FOLK-F 308 Middle Eastern and Arab Mythology
  • FOLK-F 377 Popular Culture and Politics in the Middle East
  • HIST-C 210 The Making of the Modern Middle East
  • HIST-C 305/NELC N-305 Issues in Near Eastern History (Approved topics only)
  • HIST-C 305/NELC N-304 Women and Gender in the Middle East
  • JSTU-J 304 / NELC-N 304 (Approved topic: What is Middle Eastern?)
  • NELC-N 122 U.S. Foreign Policy and the Muslim World
  • NELC-N 204 Topics in Middle Eastern Culture and Society (Approved topics only)
  • NELC-N 205 Topics in Middle Eastern Literature (Approved topics only)
  • NELC-N 233 The Golden Age of Islamic Civilization
  • NELC-N 339 / POLS-Y 339 Middle Eastern Politics
  • NELC-N 350 Modern Iran
  • NELC-N 385 Persian Mystical Literature in Translation

Central and Inner Asia

  • CEUS-R 110 Central Asia: Cultures and Customs
  • CEUS-R 199 Introductory Topics in Central Eurasian Studies (Approved topics only)
  • CEUS-R 213 Islam in Central Asia
  • CEUS-R 251 / NELC-N 251 / ANTH-E 251 Post-Taliban Afghanistan and the War on Terror
  • CEUS-R 281 Turkish Literature in Translation
  • CEUS-R 291 Inner Asian Religious Beliefs
  • CEUS-R 292 Introduction to Turkic and Iranian Civilization
  • CEUS-R 299 Intermediate Topics in Central Eurasian Studies (Approved topic: Society and Politics in Contemporary Iran)
  • CEUS-R 310 Introduction to Central Asian History
  • CEUS-R 311 Travelers and Explorers in Central Asia
  • CEUS-R 312 Shrine and Pilgrimage in Central Asian Islam
  • CEUS-R 313 Islam in Soviet Union and Successor States
  • CEUS-R 314 Islamization in Inner Asia
  • CEUS-R 315 Politics and Society in Central Asia
  • CEUS-R 316/ANTH-E 398 Peoples and Cultures of Central Asia
  • CEUS-R 329 Topics in Central Asian Studies
  • CEUS-R 330 Politics in Modern Xinjiang
  • CEUS-R 332 The History of Xinjiang to 1911
  • CEUS-R 333 Cultures and Civilization of Xinjiang
  • CEUS-R 389 Topics in Turkic Studies (Approved topic: Islam, Islamism, and Modernity in Turkey)
  • CEUS-R 395 / POLS-Y 401 Politics of Identity in China and Inner Asia
  • CEUS-R 411 Ethnic History of Central Asia
  • CEUS-R 412 Central Asia under Russian Rule
  • CEUS-R 413 Islamic Central Asia, Sixteenth–Nineteenth Centuries
  • CEUS-R 414 The Yasavi Sufis and Central Asian Islam
  • CEUS-R 415 Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition in Central Asia
  • CEUS-R 416 Religion and Power in Islamic Central Asia
  • COLL-C 103 Critical Approaches to the Arts and Humanities (Approved topic: Saints of the Silk Road)
  • POLS-Y 401 Topics in Political Science (Approved topic: Politics in Modern Xinjiang)

South and Southeast Asia

  • ANTH-A 200 Topics in Anthropology of Culture and Society (Approved topic: Post-Taliban Afghanistan and the War on Terror)
  • CEUS-R 251 Post-Taliban Afghanistan and the War on Terror
  • HIST-G 300 Issues in Asian History (Approved topic: Islam and Empire in South Asia)
  • HIST-J 300 Seminar in History (Approved topic: Indian Ocean Cradle of Globalization)
  • NELC-N 205 Topics in Middle Eastern Literature (Approved topic: Islam in Pakistan History)
  • POLS-Y 490 Senior Seminar in Political Science (Approved topic: War and Peace in South Asia)
  • REL-R 382 / INST-L 380 Women in South Asian Religious Traditions
  • REL-A 470 Islam in Southeast Asia

 Russia and East-Central Europe

  • ANTH-E 400 Undergraduate Seminar (Approved topic: Islam in the Balkans)
  • CEUS-R 313 Islam in the Soviet Union and Successor States
  • EURO-W 405 Special Topics in European Studies (Approved topics only)
  • NELC-N 204 Topics in Middle Eastern Culture and Society (Approved topic: Muslim Communities in the West)
  • POLS-Y 200 Contemporary Political Topics (Approved topics only)
  • POLS-Y 401 Topics in Political Science (Approved topics only)

 Western Europe and America

  • EURO-W 405 Special Topics in European Studies (Approved topic: Muslims in Western Politics)
  • JSTU-J 260 / NELC-N 260 Literary Masterpieces of Muslim Spain
  • JSTU-J 360 / NELC-N 360 Muslim Spain and Portugal in History and Memory
  • NELC-N 305 Issues in Middle Eastern Literature (Approved topic: Muslims in Western Poltics)
  • POLS-Y 401 Topics in Political Science (Approved topic: Muslims in Western Politics)
  • POLS-Y 490 Senior Seminar in Political Science (Approved topic: Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X Civil Rights)
  • REL-C 320 African American Religions
  • REL-C 335 New Religious Movements in the Americas
  • REL-C 420 Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X in American Religion
Thematic Areas
  • ARTH-A 281 Introduction to Islamic Art and Visual Culture
  • ARTH-A 327 Survey of Islamic Art
  • ARTH-A 426 The Medieval City
  • ARTH-A 459 The Painted Image in the Islamic World
  • ARTH-A 489 Topics in Islamic Art (Approved topics only)
  • CEUS-R 359 Topics in Iranian Studies (Approved topic: Shi’ism Debates and Discourses)
  • COLL-C 103 Critical Approaches to the Arts and Humanities (Approved topic: Jesus, Alexander and Other Heroes of Islam)
  • COLL-C 104 Critical Approaches to Social and Historical Studies (Approved topic: Oil, Islam and Geopolitics)
  • HIST-C 205 Introduction to Islamic Civilization
  • HIST-W 200 Issues in World History (Approved topic: Muslim-Jewish Relations in the 20th Century)
  • INTL-I 426 Advanced Topics in International Studies (Approved topic: Shi’ism Debates and Discourses)
  • JSTU-J 204 Social and Historical Topics in Jewish Studies (Approved topic: Muslim-Jewish Relations in the 20th Century)
  • NELC-N 220 Muhammad: Life of the Prophet
  • NELC-N 265 Introduction to Islamic Civilization
  • NELC-N 307 Issues in Islamic Studies (approved topics only)
  • NELC-N 361 Islamic Feminisms
  • NELC-N 365 / PHIL-P 301 Islamic Philosophy
  • NELC-N 370 Koranic Studies
  • NELC-N 391 War and Peace in the Islamic Tradition
  • NELC-N 392 Islam and Modernity
  • NELC-X 393 Individual Readings in Classical Arabic (Approved topic: Islamic Foundational Texts)
  • REL-A 152 Jews, Christians, Muslims
  • REL-A 270 Introduction to Islam
  • REL-A 275 Sex and Gender in Islam
  • REL-A 380 Knowing the Will of God in Islam I: Law
  • REL-A 470 Topics in Islamic Studies (Approved topics only)
  • REL-A 480 Knowing the Will of God in Islam II: Theology
  • REL-A 485 The Life and Legacy of Muhammad
Approved Languages
  • Arabic
  • Azerbaijani
  • Bamana
  • Bengali
  • Dari
  • French
  • Indonesian
  • Kazakh
  • Kurdish
  • Kyrgyz
  • Ottoman
  • Pashto
  • Persian
  • Swahili
  • Turkish
  • Urdu
  • Uyghur
  • Uzbek
  • Wolof