Web page: artsci.wustl.edu/~akaramus

Office: Eliot Hall Room 334

Office Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 11 am - Noon

E-mail: akaramus@wustl.edu

Phone number: (314) 935-4446

Mailing Address:
     Washington University in St. Louis
     Campus Box 1062, One Brookings Drive
     St. Louis, MO 63130

Recent Research: He is currently working on two book projects titled A Historical Introduction to Sufism and Islamic Perspectives on Religion.

Recent Publications:
     “Islam: A Civilizational Project in Progress.” In Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender, and Pluralism, 98-110. Ed. Omid Safi. Oxford: OneWorld, 2003.
     “On the Problem of the Origins of Anatolian Sufism” (simultaneously to be released in Turkish under the title “Yesevilik, Melametilik, Kalenderilik, Vefa'ilik ve Anadolu Tasavvufunun Kökenleri Sorunu”). In Osmanli Tarihinde Sufilik (XIV.-XX. Yüzyillar). Ed. Ahmet Yasar Ocak & Mustafa Kara. Ankara: Turkish Historical Society, forthcoming in 2004.
     “Walayah according to al-Junayd (d.910),” forthcoming in Mystical Thought in Islam: New Research in Historiography, Law, Sufism and Philosophy in Honor of Hermann Landolt (London: The Institute of Ismaili Studies in association with I. B. Tauris, 2004).
     “Views of Sovereignty in Turkish and Persian Popular Romances.” In Early Modern Ottoman Empire. Ed. Virginia Aksan and Dan Goffman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, scheduled for publication in 2004.
     “Religious Voices in Modern Turkish Free Verse: The Poems of Sezai Karakoç (b.1933) and Ismet Özel (b.1944),” under submission.

Courses:
Judaism And Islam In Comparative Perspective: The historical trajectories of Rabbinic Judaism and Islam are intimately intertwined. Moreover, a strong argument can be made that Rabbinic Judaism and Islam bear some obvious affinities with one another. Nevertheless, the two traditions generally continue to be studied in isolation from one another. The goals of this seminar are (1) to foster better understanding of areas of historical contact and intersections between Jewish and Islamic civilizations and (2) to start the work of developing a common framework for the comparative study of the two traditions. We will examine examples of sustained and meaningful contact such as Muslim-Jewish symbiosis in early Islam as well as interaction on the level of philosophical and theological discourses between medieval Jews and Muslims. We will also attempt to identify instances of affinity between the two traditions through comparative study of their exegetical, messianic, legal, and mystical dimensions. Seniors in Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern Studies will be given preference in admission. Advanced students from other departments and programs should contact the instructor prior to enrollment. 3 units. Same as home course L75 JNE 4070.

Islamic History 622-1200: The cultural, intellectual, and political history of the Islamic world, beginning with the prophetic mission of Muhammad and concluding with the Mongol invasions. Topics include: the life of Muhammad; the early Muslim conquests; the institution of the caliphate; the translation movement from Greek into Arabic and the emergence of Arabic as a language of learning and artistic expression; the development of new educational, legal, and pietistic institutions; changes in agricultue, crafts, commerce and the growth of urban culture; multiculturalism and interconfessional interaction among Jews, Christians, Muslims, Zoroastrians and others; large-scale movements of nomadic peoples; synoptic glances at Islamic polities in Sicily, Spain, North Africa, the Near East as well as Central and South Asia. JINES graduate students should register for L75 513. This course satisfies the pre-modern course requirement for history majors. PREREQ: SEE HISTORY HEADNOTE. 3 units. Same as home course L22 History 313C.

Senior Seminar in Religious Studies: Religion in Global Context: This seminar is designed as an overview of recent scholarship on theory and method in the academic study of religion. We will begin our coverage with a survey of the emergence of the concept of religion shortly before and during the Enlightenment. We will then turn our gaze to the ways in which this new concept was applied to the study of non-Western cultures, which ultimately led to the reconfiguration of the world's cultural traditions into "religions" under such names as Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism. We will then consider some consequenced of such a cognitive mapping of the world into various "world religions" by examining central issues such as secularization, globalization, the emergence of new age religions and the relationship between religion and science. PREREQ: SENIOR STANDING. The seminar is required of all Religious Studies majors (with the exception of those writing honors' theses). The class is also open, with permission of the instructor, to other advanced undergraduates with previous coursework in Religious Studies. Limited to 15 students. 3 units. Same as L97 IAS 4790.

Islamic History: 1200-1800: A survey of the major Islamic polities and societies of the Nile-to-Oxus region from 1200 to 1800; their cultures, socioeconomic conditions and historical development. Particular attention is given to the Mamluk and Ottoman Middle East, Safavid Iran, and Mughal India. L22 5314 and L75 5314 are intended for graduate students only. PREREQ: SEE HEADNOTE. 3 units. Same as home course L22 History 314C (Q).

Topics In Islam: Conceptualizing Islam: 'Religion' has always been a contested concept. Already in the early 1960s, when Religious Studies was emerging as a new field of academic study in American universities, the late Wilfred Cantwell Smith, prominent scholar of religion, subjected the concept 'religion' to close scrutiny and argued that, far from being a universal concept found in all or most human cultures, 'religion' was a specifically Western category with a peculiar history. Recently, other scholars (such as Richard King and Timothy Fitzgerald) have taken Smith's critical outlook on religion even further by challenging the application of this label to non-Euro-American cultural traditions, particularly 'Hinduism' and 'Buddhism,' as problematic. Islam, however, is still routinely viewed as a major world religion, even though it is not all too clear if its characterization as a religion is warranted. In this course, we will address this issue by surveying the history of Islamic concepts that seem to be akin to the Euro-American concept of religion. More broadly, our goal will be to probe the Islamic tradition for the ways in which Muslims have conceptualized their own tradition as well as those of others (Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Zoroastrians) and to determine if Muslim concepts of Islam and of other 'traditions' bear any generic resemblance to post-Enlightenment Euro-American conceptions of religion. Oral and written reports as well as major research paper required. 3 units. Same as L97 IS 4910, L75 JNE 490.

Christians & Muslims In The Mediterranean World 1100-1650:
The medieval and early modern Mediterranean was the crossroads of empire, trade, learning, and faith. This course examines how the diverse countries in this region handled questions of religious difference, cultural encounter, and political and economic rivalry from the Crusades to the flourishing of the Ottoman Empire and the seventeenth century revolutions in politics and knowledge. Topics covered include: religious disputes and dialogue; the treatment of religious minorities; diplomacy and war; trade; slavery; and cultural influences. PREREQ: SEE HEADNOTE 4 units. Same as home course L22 History 4210.

Sufism: God's Friends in Islam: Saintly mediators between God and humanity played a central role in the formation of Islam. This course focuses upon certain major aspects of saintly mediation such as the emergence of theories of sainthood and cults of saints, their place within Islamic religiosity (especially in comparison with prophecy), and the institutional frameworks within which such mediation occurred. Key Sufi doctrines (including self-disclosure of God, the perfect human being, mystical union, perpetual creation) and practices (spiritual retreat, ritual invocation, communal mediation/concert/dance) will be studied. Related issues such as conversion to Islam and Islamization of originally non-Islamic beliefs and practices will also be addressed. PREREQUISITE: Re St 224 or permission of instructor. Credit 3 units