.
Politics and Religion: Governing the Middle East
Study Course Description
Course Description Statuss:Approved
Course Description Version:1.00
Study Course Accepted:19.03.2024 14:30:54
| Study Course Information | |||||||||
| Course Code: | SZF_046 | LQF level: | Level 7 | ||||||
| Credit Points: | 4.00 | ECTS: | 6.00 | ||||||
| Branch of Science: | Political Science | Target Audience: | Political Science | ||||||
| Study Course Supervisor | |||||||||
| Course Supervisor: | Māris Andžāns | ||||||||
| Study Course Implementer | |||||||||
| Structural Unit: | Faculty of Social Sciences | ||||||||
| The Head of Structural Unit: | |||||||||
| Contacts: | Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szf rsu[pnkts]lv | ||||||||
| Study Course Planning | |||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 10 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 20 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 13 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 26 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 46 | ||||||||
| Study course description | |||||||||
| Preliminary Knowledge: | Basic knowledge of politics. | ||||||||
| Objective: | This course aims at examining the meanings of, and interactions between, religion and politics in a global perspective, concentrating on the issues steaming from turmoil in the Middle East. | ||||||||
| Topic Layout (Full-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 1 | Introduction: Models of the relationship between religion and the state | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 2 | The History of Judaism and Christianity | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 3 | The History of Islam | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 4 | Fundamentalism: The What and the Why? | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 5 | Religion and violence | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 6 | Religion and conflict resolution | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 7 | Religious radicalism and the democracy conundrum | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 8 | The secularization debate | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 9 | Is there a clash of civilizations? | Lectures | 2.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 10 | Research presentations | Classes | 13.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Assessment | |||||||||
| Unaided Work: | • Active participation during classes and seminars (as well as criticism and recommendations given in response to other students' reports); • Essays; • Final report. In order to evaluate the quality of the study course as a whole, the student must fill out the study course evaluation questionnaire on the Student Portal. | ||||||||
| Assessment Criteria: | Students have to take into account the following requirements and grading criteria: • Active participation during classes and seminars (as well as criticism and recommendations given in response to other students' reports) – 35% • Essays – 10% • Final report – 20% • Presentation of the final report – 15% • Exam – 20% | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Full-Time): | Exam (Written) | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Part-Time): | |||||||||
| Learning Outcomes | |||||||||
| Knowledge: | Students will be able to describe the origins and spread of Islam, the basic tenets and beliefs of various sects. Students will be able to compare the Sharia principles in international relations. Students will demonstrate the ability to explain the political history and the main sources of conflict in the Middle East. Students will be able to assess the problems of the region and predict future scenarios. | ||||||||
| Skills: | Students will be able to describe the differences of various branches of Islam. Students will be able to describe the history of Islam, the basic principles of Sharia. Students will demonstrate the ability to explain the historic interaction between politics and religion in the Middle East. | ||||||||
| Competencies: | Students will be able to differentiate political and religious conflicts. Students will be able to describe the foreign policy of various countries in the Middle East. Students will demonstrate the ability to analyse the most important regional conflicts and sources of instability. | ||||||||
| Bibliography | |||||||||
| No. | Reference | ||||||||
| Required Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Visa literatūra ir angļu valodā un piemērota gan latviešu, gan angļu plūsmas studentiem | ||||||||
| 2 | Appleby, R. Scott. The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. | ||||||||
| 3 | Cleveland W.L., Bunton M. A History of the Modern Middle East. Westview Press, 2016 | ||||||||
| 4 | Durkheim, Emile. 2001. The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. New York: Oxford University Press. | ||||||||
| 5 | Gerges, Fawaz A. 2009. The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. | ||||||||
| 6 | Van der Veer, Peter. 1994. Religious Nationalism: Hindus and Muslims in India. Berkeley: University of California Press. | ||||||||
| 7 | Weber, Max. 2001. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Routledge. | ||||||||
| Additional Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Lust, Ellen. ed. The Middle East. 16th edition. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2023 | ||||||||
| 2 | Lewis B. The Emergence of Modern Turkey. Oxford University Press, 2003 | ||||||||
| 3 | “Resurgent Religion in Politics: the Martyr, the Convert and the Black Night of Apocalypse”, in Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion [Vol.2]. ed. By Michel P., Paze E. Brill, 2011 | ||||||||
| 4 | Rowe P.S. Religion and Global Politics. Toronto: Oxford University Press Canada, 2012 | ||||||||
| 5 | Tibi B. Political Islam, World Politics and Europe. Democratic Peace and Euro-Islam vs Global Jihad. Routledge, 2014 | ||||||||
