About the Seminars--Compelling Ideas
Freedom
Crispin Sartwell, Political Science 10:30 MWF
From the beginnings of political thought in the Greeks to the most recent speeches of George W. Bush, the idea of freedom is one of the most important and one of the most contested in political and philosophical discourse. From the metaphysical question of whether human beings have free will to the question of whether domestic eavesdropping violates the bill of rights, from questions of free expression in the arts to the nature of democracy, this course will consider the idea of freedom in its widest sweep and its most concrete implications.
Jihad
David Commins, History 1:30 MTh
Were the September 11 attacks, in terms of Islamic law, legal acts of jihad or atrocities? Does Islamic law sanction suicide bombings or any other form of terrorism? These questions are in fact part of Muslim discussions of the rules for jihad that began in the early Islamic era. We will study the theory and practice of jihad in the life of the Prophet Muhammad and his early followers; the development of a formal legal theory of jihad, essentially the Muslim rules of a just war; examples of jihad in classical Islamic civilization; the mystics’ interpretation of jihad as a struggle for spiritual refinement; contemporary debates on jihad between Islamic revivalists and moderates; and the arguments among militants over the legitimacy of specific tactics such as suicide bombings and targeting Muslims. By the end of the course, you will have a clear understanding of the theory, history, and contemporary discourses of jihad. Required texts will cover the life of Muhammad, legal treatises on jihad, notions of jihad as spiritual combat, and, of course, controversies over the tactics used by al-Qaida.
