Lecture 1 (20 .2. 2024) - !!!My absence – see bellow

Introduction to the course and its rules.

Including a debate on students' awareness of the topic.

Dear students! See Course description, Aim of the course and Course completion requirements – mail me any questions or let’s talk about it during the next class.

!!!My absence - I am very sorry, I will be with my children in the mountains. This class of course does not count as one of the 3 tolerated absences.

I'll try for a Zoom online class, but no guarantees, I'll be pretty in the wilds. If it doesn't go through, I'll ask you to write two paragraphs of any length - presenting your relationship to the topic, and your motivation to participate in the course.
Self-study - in addition to the literature recommended in SIS, Wikipedia or another more classical encyclopedias can of course be used for a basic overview - by the next class, the student should have a basic understanding of Islam, its origins and historical spread - with an emphasis on North Africa. In addition, the student should have a basic knowledge of the current geographic distribution of state entities in North Africa, the Sahel, and the Middle East.

If you're hungry (as I hope) for the spoken word, you'll find a list of films below the reading list - this is followed by a list of (more or less chronologically listed) documentaries and (animated) maps - most of which are already relevant to lecture 2.

2. Historical and geographical grand tour through pre-modern North Africa.

Key points: General history of the region. The expansion of Islam. How Islam Split into the Sunni and Shia Branches? Medieval Spain and Al-Andalus. Berber Empires: Zirids, Almoravids and Almohads. Why did the Fatimid Caliphate collapse? Why did the Ayyubid Empire Collapse? The Rise and Fall of Mamluk Egypt. The Greatest Moroccan Sultan Moulay Ismail.

3. From Napoleon's campaign in Egypt to the WWII: A colonial story

Key points: The clash of civilizations. Enlightened modernisation. The Berlin Conference and the slicing up of Africa. The World Wars and their impact on North Africa.

4. The decline and fall of the Western Empire in North Africa.

Key points: The collapse of colonial empires. The difficult search for a form of independence. Postcolonialism. Suez conflict, Algerian war, etc.

5. North Africa's ethnic and religious diversity.

Key points: The position of religious and ethnic minorities in the North African region – Christians, Jews or "pagan" Africans. A legacy of slavery's past.

6. Searching for new paths: socialism, secularism, totalitarianism or monarchy?

Key points: A comparative view on post-colonial development in Egypt, Tunis, Libya, Algeria and Morocco.

7. The old "Oriental" masters: Maimonides, Ibn Battuta, Ibn Khaldun, Leo Africanus et al.

Key points: Portraits of medieval travellers and thinkers. An emic view of North African society.

8. The old "Occidental" masters: Edward Lane, Edvard Westermarck, Alois Musil et al.

Key points: A traditional Western view of North African societies through the eyes of prominent scholars of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

9. The North African Connection: Gellner, Geertz, Crapanzano, Rabinow et al.

Key points: The changing perspective of Western anthropologists on North African society in the second half of the 20th century.

10. Beyond the Veil: Fatema Mernissi, Janice Boddy et al.

Key points: Male-Female Dynamics in a Muslim Society. Polygamy, female circumcision.
Female strategies of compensation in a male-dominated society.

11. About jinn and men: concept of genies and possession in Islam.

Key points: A description of the concept of jinn in Islamic society. Scripturalist, Sufi and popular conceptions of jinn possession.

12. Possession rituals in Morocco, Egypt and Sudan

Key points: A comparison of four possession healing rituals. During the course will be presented video material collected by the presenter during field research in Morocco. Students will also have the opportunity to touch several ritual artifacts.

13. Final debate on selected topics