Fall 2026
CMCU 2040: Religion, Gender and Migration
Taught by Shenila Khoja-Moolji
This course explores how religion and gender shape migration experiences and transnational communities. Focusing on Muslim diasporas, including Shia Ismailis, students examine how faith, devotional practices, and gendered roles influence movement, settlement, and community life across borders. Through case studies and ethnographic analysis, the course highlights how migrants negotiate power, identity, and ethics, revealing the ways religious and gendered frameworks both constrain and enable repair, social cohesion, and ethical engagement in an interconnected world.
BSFS 1010: American Muslims
Taught by Shenila Khoja-Moolji
There are about 1.8 billion Muslims globally. Yet, in America, they are defined through rather narrow tropes. This course introduces students to the heterogeneity and diversity of American Muslims through the case study of Shia Ismaili Muslims. We consider writings and media produced by Ismaili Muslims to contemplate larger questions around representation, anticoloniality, feminism, racism, and migrant and refugee resettlement. Accordingly, we discover how Muslims in America hope to dismantle exploitative hierarchies and the role that religious ethics play in this project.
CMCU 4190 – Majoritarianism and Minority Rights in South Asia
Taught by Dr. Bader Khan Suri
The course aims to provide an Asian response to the debate over the rise of ethno-nationalism, majoritarianism, and the challenges to minority rights. The case of India sheds light on specific reasons behind the decay of democracies. Moreover, the course will investigate how and why ethnoreligious majorities have been weaponizing their discourse against minorities. At the center of this discourse is the Hindutva ideology. The course will examine whether it represents an exclusionary vision. Moreover, the course will investigate whether such an ideology perceives minorities as a threat. Finally, the course will explore how democracy interacts with these dynamics—whether it mitigates or amplifies tensions arising from ethno-nationalism.
CMCU 4354 – Health, Law, and Islam ** cross-listed with ARST 4354
Taught by Dr. Ghida Aljuburi
Religion is a powerful force in global governance, and nowhere is this more visible than in health, law, and human rights. This seminar examines the intersection of Islamic law, global health policy, and international politics, offering students a critical lens on how religious and cultural frameworks shape health systems worldwide. No prior background in Islam, law, or health is required. The course introduces students to the foundations of Islamic law through the Qur’an and the Sunnah and traces the historical role of Islamic governance in healthcare. It then engages contemporary, policy-relevant issues through case studies on food regulation and hygiene, prophetic medicine, bioethics, mental health, migrant and refugee health, and sexual, reproductive, and human rights in Muslim-majority and minority contexts. Designed for students interested in foreign service, international policy, human rights, global health, culture, religion, ethics, law, diplomacy and peace and justice studies, this seminar equips participants with critical tools to understand how culture and religion operate as powerful political forces in shaping health outcomes worldwide.
BSFS 1010 – Islam and the West
Taught by Dr. Jonathan Brown
Years pass, the reasons change (good and bad), but this class always seems relevant. For many years after 9/11, the Arab Spring, the rise of ISIS, the war in Gaza, etc., discussion centered on understanding the constructs of ‘Islam’ and ‘The Muslim world.’ Since the rise of national conservatism, ‘illiberal democracies’ and right-wing nativism, discussion has justifiably shifted to asking what ‘The West’ is. Stepping outside of ‘Islam’ and ‘the West’ we see that neither is a concrete and unchanging reality. Both exist as ideas conceived by particular communities, internally disputed and perceived by others. This course will examine this conceptual knot through in-depth readings on how societies in the US (and Western Europe) understand ‘liberalism,’ ‘secularism’ and ‘Islam/Muslims as threat’ within the context of debates over the nature of Islam, the West and their proper relationship. We will also use travel literature as a way to explore how visitors from one of these civilizations experienced the other.
HIST 2109 – The Islamic World
Taught by Dr. Jonathan Brown
We can define the Islamic world in several ways: the regions in which Muslim populations predominate, states and societies in which the institutions of Islamic civilization flourished, or areas controlled by Muslim rulers. In the modern period, we can view the Islamic world through the lens of colonial experiences, religious revivalism (and its controversies) and efforts to negotiate and reclaim the heritage of classical Islam. The scope of this class is ambitious, but it is also rewarding. To understand the Islamic world one must understand the religion of Islam, its origins, internal debates and development. Exploring Islamic civilization means surveying how this faith brought about conversions and shaped institutions that redefined the world from Andalusia to Indonesia. Finally, understanding the Islamic world today means placing this legacy within the various geopolitical and religious contexts of the modern world. This course grapples with all these tasks.