Judaism and Islam in the Public Domain: Politics, Power, and the Body

The course focuses on the idea of the religious body in the “public domain” as a key concept in social science to the formation, transmission, reception and shifting nature of Jewish and Muslim traditions past and present. It assesses meaning and function of the body and its presence in holy sites such as the synagogue and the mosque, to articulate and present religious identity in the (pre)modern, secularized public sphere. It also tries to tackle the question as to why it is so important for specific Jewish or Muslim groups to be visibly present in the public sphere; and why religion is not primarily structured as a privatized practice or set of convictions. In that sense, it will particularly take into account the question how Jewish and Muslim scholars have understood their physical presence in the non-Jewish/Muslim, European societies. Since various religious practices are expressed in forms of presentation and use of the body, specific issues will be dealt with in particular, such as circumcision, clothing, including hairdressing, purity, and bodily practices in synagogues and mosques.

In the part of Judaism, discussion of these issues is preceded by a general introduction in Judaism, each class discussing Jewish identity in its systematic, historical, or hermeneutic aspects. Following this, some in depth discussions of body-related religious practices introduce the main topics.

As for Islam, the course offers, in the form of readings and guest lectures, an overview of we the foundational texts which shape the Muslim world view, especially religious performative practices as defined in Islamic law and manifested in the public sphere. By discussing various issues related to the human body and Islamic “revivalism,” we shall see how Muslims try to legitimate their action in public life. Are Muslim allowed to live in a non-Muslim domain? How far can they actively engage themselves in a non-Muslim majority society? Is apostasy in Islam public or private? How can we understand the issues of dress, veiling and male-female segregation in Islam between theory and practice? What are the limitations imposed on the autonomy of the human body?
 
Format
The course is divided into two sections, one about Judaism, one about Islam. The class meets twice a week for two hours. Students are expected to come to each session well prepared to discuss the readings and to make thoughtful contributions to the learning process. This includes executing tasks in advance set for the ‘Workshops’. Detailed information on the program, including deadlines and also taking into account the COVID situation, will be provided in due time in a syllabus on Blackboard.

In each section each individual student make weekly assignments (summaries, essays, site observations and queries) that also assess his/her knowledge of central terminology, basic historical facts and essential concepts of each religion, based on the theory presented in class and the literature studied during each section of the course. Following this, each student will prepare a short presentation, and, finally, execute a (comparative) research of a specific topic of Jewish and/or Islamic Bodily Presence as location of (religious) identity.