This is an interdisciplinary seminar, which looks at the social and
cultural aspects of the contemporary Muslim communities in the West
and their interaction with other Muslim communities in the world
as ‘transnationals’.
The course will use Germany, France, Britain, the Netherlands and
the USA as case studies. Muslim peoples originating from diverse
parts of the world such as Africa, Crimea, Central Asia, the
Caucasus, China, South East Asia, Turkey will be discussed.
Course material includes books, articles, recent research results,
as well as films by and about these transnational communities;
newspaper articles, broadcasts and various media representations.
The aims of the course are:
•	to introduce the factual details of the history,
contemporary distribution, social and cultural status of the Muslims
and their organizations in Europe and in the USA.
•	to discuss concepts such as “transnational
communities”; “hybridity”; “identity”; “border-crossing”; “migration
laws” in the context of post-colonial studies and cultures in
contact.
•	to discuss sources of research on contemporary Muslim
communities in Europe and the USA.
•	to enable the students to carry out their personal research
interests within the general field of transnational Muslim
communities.
This is a discussion led seminar course.