CGTH W4520: Issues of Secularism and Diversity in
Global Though
[Fall 2006]
Akeel Bilgrami, ab41@columbia.edu
Partha Chatterjee, pc281@columbia.edu
Nicholas B. Dirks, nbd7@columbia.edu
Day/Time: Fridays 4:10-6 p.m.
Room:
301 Fayerweather
Room:
501 Schermerhorn
Room:
614 Schermerhorn
Undergraduate Section – CGTH W4525
Mondays 1:10-2 p.m. in 467 Schermerhorn Ext.
Rashmi Sadana, rs2295@columbia.edu
This course inaugurates a new program at Columbia University under the aegis
of the Committee on Global Thought. The Committee will organize courses,
lectures, symposia, and other academic activities on themes related to various
aspects of globalization.
This course in particular will focus on issues of cultural diversity under
conditions of globalization. Weekly topics will include secularism and
secularization, religion and science, religion and politics, migration and
cultural diversity, universal human rights and minority rights, and
cosmopolitanism – all as they relate to globalization. While the emphasis will
be on contemporary debates, we will also look at the relevant historical
genealogies of some of these debates. And, we will look closely at regional
variations across the world in the local framing of many of these debates. The
aim will be to investigate the presuppositions of prevailing common sense on the
effects globalization has had and is having on cultural diversity. There are no
prerequisites to the course. Enrollment is limited to 35, and open to graduate
and undergraduate students.
Class meetings and format:
The course instructors will lead all sessions; however, invited speakers from a
range of disciplines and geographical perspectives will share their latest works
on the topics mentioned above for a portion of most class meetings. There will
also be a weekly discussion section (first meeting: September 18) required for
undergraduates taking the course.
Requirements:
The main course requirement for graduate students, in addition to attending all
lectures, participating in discussions, and keeping up with the reading, will be
a 20-page research paper due by email to Professor Chatterjee (pc281@columbia.edu)
on Friday, December 15. Undergraduate course work will be assessed as follows:
Participation/Attendance (20%); Two Short Papers (6-7 pages each; 25% each) due
on October 18 and November 15; One Longer Final Paper (10 pages; 30%) due on
December 11.
Reading:
In addition to reading papers submitted by each invited speaker and articles
pertinent to the weekly topics (which will be posted on Courseworks under Class
Files/Shared Files), the required course books (available at Labyrinth Books and
on Butler Reserves) are
• Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity
• Rageev Bhargava (editor), Secularism and its Critics
• Tariq Ramadan, Western Muslims and the Future of Islam
• Tariq Modood, Multicultural Politics: racism, ethnicity, and Muslims in
Britain
• William Connolly, Why I Am Not a Secularist
• Aijaz Ahmad, On Communalism and Globalization: offensives of the far right
• Orhan Pamuk, Snow
Other books (portions of which will be required reading for the course) on
Butler Reserve include
• Anthony Appiah, Cosmopolitanism: ethics in a world of strangers
• Faisal Devji, Landscapes of the Jihad: militancy, morality, modernity
• Nilufer Gole, The Forbidden Modern: civilization and veiling
• Tariq Modood, Multiculturalism, Muslims and Citizenship: a European approach
• Bhargava, Bagchi, Sudarshan (eds), Multiculturalism, Liberalism and Democracy
Week One – Sept. 8 – Introduction
Week Two – Sept. 15 - 501 Schermerhorn
Secularism and Religion: A discussion of Talal Asad’s work
Invited Speaker: David Scott
Reading: Chapters 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 of Formations of the Secular; “The Trouble of
Thinking: An Interview with Talal Asad” in Powers of the Secular Modern (Courseworks)
Week Three – Sept. 22 - 614 Schermerhorn
Secularism and Secularization
Invited Speaker: Nilüfer Göle
Reading: The Forbidden Modern (Chapters 1, 2, and 4; Butler Reserve); “Islam in
European Publics: secularism and religious difference;” “Secularism and
Islamism: the making of elites and counter-elites;” “The Gendered nature of the
Public Sphere”
Week Four – Sept. 29 – 301 Fayerweather
Discussion
Reading: TBA
Week Five – Oct. 6 – 501 Schermerhorn
Issues on Religion and Science
Invited Speaker: David Hollinger
Reading: Cosmopolitanism and Solidarity (Preface); Science, Jews, and Secular
Culture (Chapters 2 and 8)
Week Six – Oct. 13 – 301 Fayerweather
Discussion
Reading: Castes of Mind (Chapters 12 and 13)
Week Seven – Oct. 20 – 501 Schermerhorn
Globalization, Migration, and Culture
Invited Speakers: Faisal Devji and Tariq Modood
Reading: Landscapes of the Jihad (Chapter 3); Multicultural Politics (Chapter
7); Multiculturalism, Muslims and Citizenship (Chapters 3 and 9)
Week Eight – Oct. 27 – 501 Schermerhorn
Religion and Globalization
Invited Speakers: Aijaz Ahmad and William E. Connolly
Reading: On Communalism and Globalization (First Essay); “Somnath to Gandhinagar:
A Night of Long Knives;” Why I am not a Secularist
Week Nine – Nov. 3 – 501 Schermerhorn
The Multiple Secularisms of Modern Democracies
Invited Speakers: Alfred C. Stepan
Reading: “The Worlds Religious Systems and Democracy: Crafting the Twin
Tolerations” in Arguing Comparative Politics (Oxford UP: 2001), pp.213-254
Week Ten – Nov. 10 – 301 Fayerweather
Discussion
Reading: TBA
Week Eleven – Nov. 17 – 614 Schermerhorn
Citizenship and Community
Invited Speaker: Sami Zubaida
Reading: “Alternative Modernities, Multiculturalism and Islam”; Ch. 6 of Law and
Power in the Islamic World; “Islam and Secularization”; “Islam and the Politics
of Community and Citizenship”
Week Twelve – Nov. 24 – University Holiday
Week Thirteen – Dec. 1 – 501 Schermerhorn
Cosmopolitanism and Education
Invited Speaker: Anthony Appiah
Reading: Cosmopolitanism: ethics in a world of strangers
Week Fourteen – Dec. 8 – 301 Fayerweather
Discussion and Wrap-Up
