REL 287 - Central Asian Islam and the Religions of the Silk Road

FDR: HU
Credits: 3
Planned Offering: Not offered in 2011-2012.

Central Asia has long been a crossroads of peoples and ideas, connecting India, China, the Middle East, and the northern steppes of what is now Russia. This course explores this region’s rich religious history and diversity in three parts: the religions of the ancient “Silk Road”” (including Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Manichaeism); Islam’s arrival in Central Asia and how Islam was transformed in the process; and the response of Central Asia’s modern Muslim communities to the advent of colonialism, Communism, Economic Liberalism, and politically-mobilized Islam. Hatcher.