Islam and Islamic Culture in Morocco
Maymester 2004
Professor Kenneth Honerkamp
Department of Religion
E-mail: hnrkmp@arches.uga.edu
Location: American
Language Center, Marrakech, Morocco
1.
COURSE ID:
RELI 4310/6310
2.
TITLES
COURSE
TITLE: Islam and Islamic Culture in Morocco
COMPUTER
TITLE: MOROCCO
3.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The
class will use an analytical method that willfacilitate
student understanding of Islam and Islamic culture in Morocco.This
method will provide the student with a window from which to view the Islamic
world and also his/herown world.The
course will both cover the basic characteristics of Islamic beliefs and
practices as well as explore some of the most significant aspects of Islamic
culture in Morocco, in particular, the aspects of Moroccan Islamic culture
that revolve around the mosque, the palace, the marketplace, the madrasa,
the Sufi zawiyah and tombs of saints.Emphasis
will also be placed on Moroccan music and art and architecture.
4.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
Acquire
facility with some essential Islamic texts in Arabic (if they have sufficient
language training ).
Maintain
a diary of the trip, uploading it to the program website.
Either do
a research
paper or do religiologically based interviews with Moroccan cultural or religious
figure.
5.
GRADING SYSTEM:
A – F, by means oftests and weekly
essay/diaries.
6.
CREDIT HOURS:one
two hour class per day, everyday six days a week (plus more hours when travelling),
equaling 55 contact hours, 4 credit hours
7.
NON-TRADITIONAL FORMAT:
This
is a maymester summer abroad program and will thus entail, with the course
work,extensive travel throughout
Morocco and homestays with Moroccan families.The
educational experience of this course will be of an on-going “immersion”
type.
REPEAT
POLICY: Course
can be repeated for credit
PRIMARY
DELIVERY MECHANISM :
Lecture/ travel
TEXTS:Readings
in the course packet that will be supplied.
Course
Objectives
The
aim of the course is to introduce students to an in-depth and first-hand
understanding of Islam and Islamic culture in Morocco, to present a broad
view of the socio-religious and socio-political issues that are shaping
the Islamic world of today, and to give students a framework for understandingthe
complex relationship between Islam and the West in modernity.
Course
Outline and Schedule
Schedule for the year 2001 (the schedule
for 2004
will be similar except the course will begin close to May 10 and end close to June
7)
May 17, Thursday :
Fly to Morocco, leaving Atlanta at 4:25 pm.
May
18, Friday:-
Arrive Frankfurt at 7:20 am; Leave Frankfurt at 9 am, arriving at
Casablanca Airport 10:30 am.
-
Depart Casablanca for Marrakech at 12:30 PM
-
Arrive at Marrakesh 3:30 pm., meet homestay families at the American
Language Center
-
Afternoon and evening free
aWeek
1 May 19 to May 25
May
19, Saturday - Part
1: Orientation and Introduction to the Islamic cultural world, Overview
-
Marrakesh: Where city and country meet - The Basin (al-Haouz)
-
Orientation: Walk around town, banks, Post Office, ALC and computer and
e-mail sites; social mores and basic etiquette
May
20, Sunday
- Free
May
21, Monday
-
Brief overview of the history of Islam in Morocco, emphasizing from the
Colonial period until today (1hr.)
-
Introduction to Religiology, comparative worldviews, Modernity; significance
of reactions to culture shock. (1hr..)
May
22, TuesdayPart
2: In Depth Survey of the Core Islamic Worldview
-
Epistemology: Sources of knowledge in Islam
May
23, Wednesday
-
Ontology : Muslim beliefs about Reality, God, the Hereafter
-
Anthropology : Muslim beliefs about the nature of humans and human relationships
in the world and afterlife
-
Psychology : Muslim beliefs about the nature and faculties of consciousness
May
24, Thursday
-
Guided historical visit of the Old City and its monuments
May
25, Friday
-
Teleology : the purpose of life in Islam
-
Methodology of Islam
-
Overview of Islamic institutions for implementing methodology: The Mosque,
madrasa, palace, qadi, home, souq (agriculture), bazaar (crafts/trade),
fortified city (jihad), zawiya (brotherhoods) and tomb.
aWeek
2 May 26 to June 1: Part
3: The Expression of Islam in Morocco
May
26 to May 28, Saturday, Sunday and Monday
-
Depart for trip to the southeastern region of Morocco: Tamagrout, Dra
Valley,
Nasiri Zawiya
-
brief road talks: Moroccan geography, agriculture, Berbers and Arabs.
May
29, Tuesday
-
Sunnah, Zuhd, Genesis of Sufism and Sufi Orders
-
Zawiya / Sufi Pedagogy and means of transmission / Sufi ritual, Saint’s
Tomb
May
30, Wednesday
-
Day trip to Tinmil fortified mosque
-
brief road talk on the Muwahhidine and Ibn Toumert
May
31, Thursday
-
Quran, a Moroccan Institution
-
The Mosque: its Social and Religious roles
June
1, Friday
-
Madrassa system of Morocco (rural and urban)
-
Sufism in Morocco: Yesterday and Today
a
Week 3 - June 2 to June 8 : Part 3 :The Expression of Islam in
Morocco
June
2, Saturday
-
Feedback session over tea and Moroccan cakes
-
Concert in the evening: Moroccan music
June
3, Sunday Free
June
4, Monday , Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday:
-Visit
Casablanca and Rabat
June
5, Tuesday -
depart for Fes from Rabat - arrive in Fes early afternoon
-
Lecture : Fes: a city founded by a saint - delivered from the Merinide
Tombs
-
Doorways to Islamic Art
June
6, Wednesday Fes
-
The Islamic City and Civil Society
-
Andalusian influences in Morocco
-Lecture
: Fatima Saddiqi : The Situation of Women in Morocco
-
June
7, Thursday Fes
-
Traditional Crafts and Social Values
-
Saint as Exemplar : Ibn Abbad, scholar and shaykh
-
free afternoon and evening
June
8, Fridayreturn
to Marrakech
-
brief road talk : Worldly and spiritual travelling
aWeek
4 June 9 to June 14
June
9, Saturday
-
Saints of Marrakech : a pilgrimage to the Old City
June
10, Sunday - Free
June
11, Monday
-
The bazaar, lifeblood of the Islamic City - guided tour of local crafts
-
Classical Islamic Values and the Islamic City
June
12, Tuesday
-
Student presentations / discussions : Moroccan realities / American
responses / religiological synthesis
-
brief summary : Islam, coherence and modernity
-
brief summary : Islam and Equilibrium
June
13, Wednesday
-
Leave Marrakech - Arrive Casablanca; Fly from Casa at
1:40 pm to Frankfurt, arriving at 7:15 pm. Overnight at
a hotel near the airport.
June
14, Thursday
-
Fly out of Frankfurt at 10:25 am, arriving Atlanta at
2:20 pm.
UNIVERSITY
HONOR CODE AND ACADEMIC HONESTY POLICY
This
course will abide strictly by the standards of academic honesty set forth
in the University of Georgia publication “A Culture of Honesty” Policy
on Academic Honesty