Serdar Kaya | Simon Fraser University (original) (raw)
Books by Serdar Kaya
![Research paper thumbnail of Kaya, Serdar. 2023. Indoctrination [Endoktrinasyon]. Liberus. pp. 272. (ISBN: 978-625-6982-34-5)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/103314365/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](![Research paper thumbnail of Kaya, Serdar. 2017. Freedom of Expression versus Religious Sensitivities: Charlie Hebdo and Muhammad Cartoons [İfade Özgürlüğü ve Dini Hassasiyetler: Charlie Hebdo ve Hz. Muhammed Karikatürleri]. Liberus. pp. 190. (ISBN: 978-605-83324-7-8)](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/51918331/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Papers by Serdar Kaya
This study examines church-state relations in Europe, and analyzes their influence on anti-immigr... more This study examines church-state relations in Europe, and analyzes their influence on anti-immigrant attitudes. The literature explains this relationship primarily with religious demographics, or state privileges for the majority faith. Alternately, this study focuses on the status of the majority religion. It argues that, in countries with a national church, citizens are more likely to consider the institutionalization of a new religion to be occurring at the expense of the national heritage, and react negatively. To test that hypothesis, the study focuses on Muslim immigrants in Europe, and builds an index that gauges the extent to which European states institutionalize Islam. Then, employing multilevel regression analysis, it investigates how the institutionalization of Islam influences anti-Muslim prejudice in different contexts of church-state regimes. Individual-level data come from the latest wave of the European Values Study, and cover 31 countries. Findings indicate that, in European countries with a national church, institutionalization of Islam increases anti-Muslim prejudice. In countries without a national church, however, institutionalization leads to tolerance. These results confirm the continuing relevance of religion on the national level in Europe, despite the decline in individual religiosity.
This study examines the factors that influence refugees’ decision to return to their country of o... more This study examines the factors that influence refugees’ decision to return to their country of origin. The research employs exploratory factor analysis and linear regression to investigate the individual-level factors that influence these decisions. Data for the analyses come from a structured survey on 889 Syrian refugees in five different German cities in late 2015. Findings indicate that refugees with higher levels of education are more likely to consider return, given that their country of origin adopts democracy. The decisions of those who experience direct threats to their safety, however, are influenced primarily by the restoration of stability.
In response to the rise in terrorism after the turn of the millennium, multiculturalist countries... more In response to the rise in terrorism after the turn of the millennium, multiculturalist countries such as Australia, Britain and Canada introduced policies that make it easier to revoke the citizenships of dual nationals. These policies primarily target naturalized immigrants and their descendants. Ongoing debates indicate that more countries plan to follow suit. Some scholars argue that easy revocation policies create two-tiered political communities, where one group of citizens have a stronger status security than the other. This study builds on their perspectives, and argues that majority members should be more likely to hold anti-immigrant attitudes in countries where state policies discriminate against citizens in terms of status security. To test this hypothesis, this study employs multilevel regression analysis. Data come from European Values Study (2008), European Social Survey (2014), and Eurobarometer (2015), and cover thirty European countries. Findings offer support for the proposed hypothesis. In countries where immigrants have low status security, majority members are more likely to have negative attitudes toward immigrants. The results hold not only for immigrants in general but also for Muslim immigrants in particular.
This study creates an index that reveals the extent to which Western European countries accommoda... more This study creates an index that reveals the extent to which Western European countries accommodate Islamic traditions and practices. The index covers six realms in which Muslim communities seek accommodation: (1) education , (2) chaplaincy services, (3) mosques, (4) cemeteries, (5) Islamic attire, and (6) halal food. The study examines and quantifies the state policies in twenty Western European countries on both national and municipal levels with a particular focus on actual implementation. Results indicate that Western European countries vary widely in terms of their accommodation of Islam. There are also notable within-country differences, due in part to regional governments, as they also make and/ or implement policy decisions. Both between-and within-country variations in the accommodation of Islam reveal a variety of nuances, and blur dual categories, such as ethnic-civic and assimilationist-integrationist.
This study investigates the root causes of outgroup prejudice. The literature explains prejudice ... more This study investigates the root causes of outgroup prejudice. The literature explains prejudice primarily as a result of the perception of threat or the lack of optimal intergroup contact. The literature also emphasizes that individuals who are prejudiced against one outgroup are more likely to be prejudiced against other outgroups as well. This study does not react to these established theories. Instead, it argues from an evolutionary social psychological perspective that the root cause of outgroup prejudice is the activated sense of distrust and caution. In ancestral environments, higher levels of distrust and caution helped humans better protect themselves and their offspring from outside dangers, especially that posed by other humans. Prejudice is thus a function of this general protective outlook, rather than a function of the particular characteristics of outgroups. To test that hypothesis, the paper specifies six multilevel regression models, and analyzes the factors that lead to prejudice against six salient minority groups: immigrants, Muslims, Jews, homosexuals, the Roma, and the people of different races. Data come primarily from the latest wave of the European Values Study, and covers 43 European countries. In all six cases of outgroup prejudice, findings indicate a strong and consistent support for the proposed theoretical perspective.
This study examines the prejudice against the Muslim immigrants in Western countries. The literat... more This study examines the prejudice against the Muslim immigrants in Western countries. The literature explains anti-Muslim prejudice almost exclusively by individual-level factors. Alternately, this study conducts a comparative, multilevel analysis to include cross-level processes as well. The analysis covers 16 Western European countries, and the data come primarily from the fourth wave of the European Values Study in 2008. Results offer strong support for the relevance of the country-level factors to individual prejudice, while confirming the findings of the major individual-level perspectives. More specifically, the findings suggest that the individuals who live in countries with (1) an official religion or (2) a liberal citizenship regime are more likely to be tolerant toward Muslims. The study also offers some support for the contact hypothesis.
This paper examines the developments before and after the Ergenekon case in regard to the alterna... more This paper examines the developments before and after the Ergenekon case in regard to the alternative retrospective that the emerging counter-narrative has introduced to the recent Turkish history. This retrospective is diametrically opposed to the perspective of the official narrative, especially in terms of the way it interprets the landmark historical events and primary actors. This paper thus argues that recent developments in Turkey since 2002, and then the Ergenekon case, have constituted a "meaning threat" for those who subscribe to the official narrative. As some of the recent works in the social psychology literature demonstrate, meaning threats occur when people apprehend new experiences that are at odds with the frameworks through which they give meaning to and view their outer worlds. According to that argument, people feel more comfortable when they experience an event that supports their cultural worldviews, because such an experience either helps them feel less uncertain about themselves or makes it easier to tolerate uncertainty. For the same reason, experiences that conflict with people's worldviews cause negative reactions. Applying to the Turkish case the insights offered by these works, this paper argues that, in the Turkish case, those who experience meaning threats take resort in political conservatism, which, in the political context of the country, corresponds to paternalist authoritarianism and assertive ethnic nationalism.
This article tests Mancur Olson’s theory of distributional coalitions against the case of the Tur... more This article tests Mancur Olson’s theory of distributional coalitions against the case of the Turkish “deep state.” Olson’s theory holds that rent-seeking (or specialinterest) groups tend to be exclusive by nature and pursue only the interests of their own members. Since their members account to a very small minority, these groups present their interests as being the interests of larger communities. The article argues that the Turkish case confirms the fundamental assumptions of the theory of distributional coalitions. An analysis of the historical process of the newly-exposed Turkish deep state reveals that, when put in proper context, its clandestine activities manifest a pattern which involves systematic efforts of an exclusive circle of group members (1) to impact the workings of Turkish society, and more recently, (2) to reverse the country’s democratization process in an effort to sustain the network’s dominating influence.
Book/Film Reviews by Serdar Kaya
![Research paper thumbnail of Kaya, Serdar. 2014. "Yılmaz Güney's Arkadaş and Yol: The Changing Approach of the Renowned Socialist Filmmaker to Gender Equality." Siyaset, Ekonomi ve Yönetim Araştırmaları Dergisi [Research Journal of Politics, Economics and Management] 2(1): 61-65.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/32915437/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](![Research paper thumbnail of Kaya, Serdar. 2011. "Cumhuriyet'in Dindar Kadınları [The Religious Women of the Republic] (by Fatma K. Barbarosoğlu)" Contemporary Islam 5(2): 211-212.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/29332794/thumbnails/1.jpg)
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Syllabi by Serdar Kaya
This course introduces students to the logic of social inquiry. The first half covers the fundame... more This course introduces students to the logic of social inquiry. The first half covers the fundamentals of research. Students learn how to identify puzzles, formulate research questions, and review the literature for the answers previous studies offer. The second half focuses on how scholars design new research to build on existing works to advance knowledge further. Accordingly, the weekly classes in the second half assist students in writing their own research proposals, which employ qualitative, quantitative, experimental or mixed methods. The classes cover the philosophies that underlie each method, and demonstrate how methods can often complement each other. Students thus learn how to utilize the strengths of each method, while developing a more encompassing perspective on social research.
This course introduces students to the scientific approach to social studies. Weekly classes and ... more This course introduces students to the scientific approach to social studies. Weekly classes and tutorials are geared toward helping the students gain a basic understanding of systematic social inquiry. In the lectures, students learn about the fundamentals of quantitative research, and accustom to strategies for data analysis, hypothesis testing, and statistical inference. Each lecture is followed by a computer lab session, where students put their knowledge to practice, and perform tasks that revolve around visualizing data, and conducting statistical analyses.
This course introduces students to the scientific approach to social studies. Weekly classes and ... more This course introduces students to the scientific approach to social studies. Weekly classes and tutorials are geared toward helping the students gain a basic understanding of systematic social inquiry. In the lectures, students learn about the fundamentals of quantitative research, and accustom to strategies for data analysis, hypothesis testing, and statistical inference. Each lecture is followed by a computer lab session, where students put their knowledge to practice, and perform tasks that revolve around visualizing data, and conducting statistical analyses.
This course is a comprehensive introduction to the study of politics and government. It is design... more This course is a comprehensive introduction to the study of politics and government. It is designed the familiarize students of all social sciences with the major concepts and themes in the discipline of political science. To accomplish that objective, the course explores the discipline's major subfields (political theory, public policy, political behaviour, international politics), and delves into critical political phenomena such as political culture, political participation, political parties, and public opinion.
This study examines church-state relations in Europe, and analyzes their influence on anti-immigr... more This study examines church-state relations in Europe, and analyzes their influence on anti-immigrant attitudes. The literature explains this relationship primarily with religious demographics, or state privileges for the majority faith. Alternately, this study focuses on the status of the majority religion. It argues that, in countries with a national church, citizens are more likely to consider the institutionalization of a new religion to be occurring at the expense of the national heritage, and react negatively. To test that hypothesis, the study focuses on Muslim immigrants in Europe, and builds an index that gauges the extent to which European states institutionalize Islam. Then, employing multilevel regression analysis, it investigates how the institutionalization of Islam influences anti-Muslim prejudice in different contexts of church-state regimes. Individual-level data come from the latest wave of the European Values Study, and cover 31 countries. Findings indicate that, in European countries with a national church, institutionalization of Islam increases anti-Muslim prejudice. In countries without a national church, however, institutionalization leads to tolerance. These results confirm the continuing relevance of religion on the national level in Europe, despite the decline in individual religiosity.
This study examines the factors that influence refugees’ decision to return to their country of o... more This study examines the factors that influence refugees’ decision to return to their country of origin. The research employs exploratory factor analysis and linear regression to investigate the individual-level factors that influence these decisions. Data for the analyses come from a structured survey on 889 Syrian refugees in five different German cities in late 2015. Findings indicate that refugees with higher levels of education are more likely to consider return, given that their country of origin adopts democracy. The decisions of those who experience direct threats to their safety, however, are influenced primarily by the restoration of stability.
In response to the rise in terrorism after the turn of the millennium, multiculturalist countries... more In response to the rise in terrorism after the turn of the millennium, multiculturalist countries such as Australia, Britain and Canada introduced policies that make it easier to revoke the citizenships of dual nationals. These policies primarily target naturalized immigrants and their descendants. Ongoing debates indicate that more countries plan to follow suit. Some scholars argue that easy revocation policies create two-tiered political communities, where one group of citizens have a stronger status security than the other. This study builds on their perspectives, and argues that majority members should be more likely to hold anti-immigrant attitudes in countries where state policies discriminate against citizens in terms of status security. To test this hypothesis, this study employs multilevel regression analysis. Data come from European Values Study (2008), European Social Survey (2014), and Eurobarometer (2015), and cover thirty European countries. Findings offer support for the proposed hypothesis. In countries where immigrants have low status security, majority members are more likely to have negative attitudes toward immigrants. The results hold not only for immigrants in general but also for Muslim immigrants in particular.
This study creates an index that reveals the extent to which Western European countries accommoda... more This study creates an index that reveals the extent to which Western European countries accommodate Islamic traditions and practices. The index covers six realms in which Muslim communities seek accommodation: (1) education , (2) chaplaincy services, (3) mosques, (4) cemeteries, (5) Islamic attire, and (6) halal food. The study examines and quantifies the state policies in twenty Western European countries on both national and municipal levels with a particular focus on actual implementation. Results indicate that Western European countries vary widely in terms of their accommodation of Islam. There are also notable within-country differences, due in part to regional governments, as they also make and/ or implement policy decisions. Both between-and within-country variations in the accommodation of Islam reveal a variety of nuances, and blur dual categories, such as ethnic-civic and assimilationist-integrationist.
This study investigates the root causes of outgroup prejudice. The literature explains prejudice ... more This study investigates the root causes of outgroup prejudice. The literature explains prejudice primarily as a result of the perception of threat or the lack of optimal intergroup contact. The literature also emphasizes that individuals who are prejudiced against one outgroup are more likely to be prejudiced against other outgroups as well. This study does not react to these established theories. Instead, it argues from an evolutionary social psychological perspective that the root cause of outgroup prejudice is the activated sense of distrust and caution. In ancestral environments, higher levels of distrust and caution helped humans better protect themselves and their offspring from outside dangers, especially that posed by other humans. Prejudice is thus a function of this general protective outlook, rather than a function of the particular characteristics of outgroups. To test that hypothesis, the paper specifies six multilevel regression models, and analyzes the factors that lead to prejudice against six salient minority groups: immigrants, Muslims, Jews, homosexuals, the Roma, and the people of different races. Data come primarily from the latest wave of the European Values Study, and covers 43 European countries. In all six cases of outgroup prejudice, findings indicate a strong and consistent support for the proposed theoretical perspective.
This study examines the prejudice against the Muslim immigrants in Western countries. The literat... more This study examines the prejudice against the Muslim immigrants in Western countries. The literature explains anti-Muslim prejudice almost exclusively by individual-level factors. Alternately, this study conducts a comparative, multilevel analysis to include cross-level processes as well. The analysis covers 16 Western European countries, and the data come primarily from the fourth wave of the European Values Study in 2008. Results offer strong support for the relevance of the country-level factors to individual prejudice, while confirming the findings of the major individual-level perspectives. More specifically, the findings suggest that the individuals who live in countries with (1) an official religion or (2) a liberal citizenship regime are more likely to be tolerant toward Muslims. The study also offers some support for the contact hypothesis.
This paper examines the developments before and after the Ergenekon case in regard to the alterna... more This paper examines the developments before and after the Ergenekon case in regard to the alternative retrospective that the emerging counter-narrative has introduced to the recent Turkish history. This retrospective is diametrically opposed to the perspective of the official narrative, especially in terms of the way it interprets the landmark historical events and primary actors. This paper thus argues that recent developments in Turkey since 2002, and then the Ergenekon case, have constituted a "meaning threat" for those who subscribe to the official narrative. As some of the recent works in the social psychology literature demonstrate, meaning threats occur when people apprehend new experiences that are at odds with the frameworks through which they give meaning to and view their outer worlds. According to that argument, people feel more comfortable when they experience an event that supports their cultural worldviews, because such an experience either helps them feel less uncertain about themselves or makes it easier to tolerate uncertainty. For the same reason, experiences that conflict with people's worldviews cause negative reactions. Applying to the Turkish case the insights offered by these works, this paper argues that, in the Turkish case, those who experience meaning threats take resort in political conservatism, which, in the political context of the country, corresponds to paternalist authoritarianism and assertive ethnic nationalism.
This article tests Mancur Olson’s theory of distributional coalitions against the case of the Tur... more This article tests Mancur Olson’s theory of distributional coalitions against the case of the Turkish “deep state.” Olson’s theory holds that rent-seeking (or specialinterest) groups tend to be exclusive by nature and pursue only the interests of their own members. Since their members account to a very small minority, these groups present their interests as being the interests of larger communities. The article argues that the Turkish case confirms the fundamental assumptions of the theory of distributional coalitions. An analysis of the historical process of the newly-exposed Turkish deep state reveals that, when put in proper context, its clandestine activities manifest a pattern which involves systematic efforts of an exclusive circle of group members (1) to impact the workings of Turkish society, and more recently, (2) to reverse the country’s democratization process in an effort to sustain the network’s dominating influence.
This course introduces students to the logic of social inquiry. The first half covers the fundame... more This course introduces students to the logic of social inquiry. The first half covers the fundamentals of research. Students learn how to identify puzzles, formulate research questions, and review the literature for the answers previous studies offer. The second half focuses on how scholars design new research to build on existing works to advance knowledge further. Accordingly, the weekly classes in the second half assist students in writing their own research proposals, which employ qualitative, quantitative, experimental or mixed methods. The classes cover the philosophies that underlie each method, and demonstrate how methods can often complement each other. Students thus learn how to utilize the strengths of each method, while developing a more encompassing perspective on social research.
This course introduces students to the scientific approach to social studies. Weekly classes and ... more This course introduces students to the scientific approach to social studies. Weekly classes and tutorials are geared toward helping the students gain a basic understanding of systematic social inquiry. In the lectures, students learn about the fundamentals of quantitative research, and accustom to strategies for data analysis, hypothesis testing, and statistical inference. Each lecture is followed by a computer lab session, where students put their knowledge to practice, and perform tasks that revolve around visualizing data, and conducting statistical analyses.
This course introduces students to the scientific approach to social studies. Weekly classes and ... more This course introduces students to the scientific approach to social studies. Weekly classes and tutorials are geared toward helping the students gain a basic understanding of systematic social inquiry. In the lectures, students learn about the fundamentals of quantitative research, and accustom to strategies for data analysis, hypothesis testing, and statistical inference. Each lecture is followed by a computer lab session, where students put their knowledge to practice, and perform tasks that revolve around visualizing data, and conducting statistical analyses.
This course is a comprehensive introduction to the study of politics and government. It is design... more This course is a comprehensive introduction to the study of politics and government. It is designed the familiarize students of all social sciences with the major concepts and themes in the discipline of political science. To accomplish that objective, the course explores the discipline's major subfields (political theory, public policy, political behaviour, international politics), and delves into critical political phenomena such as political culture, political participation, political parties, and public opinion.
Students will survey Canadian politics and government. They will explore Canada's political cultu... more Students will survey Canadian politics and government. They will explore Canada's political culture, its constitution, federalism, and relations with indigenous peoples, as well as its institutions of government, including the parliament, the crown, the prime minister, the cabinet, the bureaucracy, and the courts. Students will also investigate the mechanisms that help to mobilize citizens and link them to government, such as political parties, elections, interest groups and social movements. Students will thus acquire an enhanced command of their political environment, and an enriched understanding of dilemmas facing Canada as a diverse liberal-democratic community.
This course introduces students to the core concepts and issues in international studies. It inve... more This course introduces students to the core concepts and issues in international studies. It investigates critical phenomena such as war, conflict, culture, development, health, resources, and the environment, among others. Students learn about the past and ongoing debates on these key issues, along with their historical contexts. The course content is interdisciplinary in nature, and allows students to familiarize themselves with, and contemplate the links among the major disciplines in social sciences, including but not limited to economics, history, international relations, political science, and sociology.
This course introduces students to the discipline of international relations, and familiarizes th... more This course introduces students to the discipline of international relations, and familiarizes them with its basic concepts and common themes, among other things. The course progresses in four stages. The first stage involves an overview of the discipline, and its development. The second stage covers the major theoretical perspectives that offer explanations to international political phenomena. The third stage turns to critical approaches. Finally, the fourth stage involves the examination of key subfields of and issues in international relations, including but not limited to political economy, foreign policy, terrorism, and globalization. In addition to a textbook, readings will include articles by prominent past and contemporary scholars of the discipline, and offer conflicting views, sometimes in the same week. Students are expected to approach all class material 0n an abstract level, and write a term paper that applies theory to explain a particular international political phenomenon.
This course introduces students to the basics of comparative politics, which is the study of poli... more This course introduces students to the basics of comparative politics, which is the study of political phenomena in a comparative manner. Put differently, comparative politics refers to the methods of comparative analysis, rather than particular subjects of study. Accordingly, the course discusses applications of comparative methods to a wide range of topics, including but not limited to regime types, political institutions, electoral systems, political parties, and economic development. The course content covers developed and underdeveloped countries, as well as democracies and dictatorships. After completing the requirements of this course, you should be familiar with (1) the most commonly used methods of comparative inquiry, (2) complexities of concepts such as democracy, representation, and their measurements, and (3) major theoretical perspectives in Comparative Politics, and the empirical evidence that offers support to them.
This course focuses on the primary cases and programs of labour migration around the world. The c... more This course focuses on the primary cases and programs of labour migration around the world. The course content is interdisciplinary in nature, and allows students to familiarize themselves with a variety of key issues, including but not limited to state policies toward migrant workers, the rights of migrant workers, ethical questions, citizenship prospects of migrant workers, and the integration of migrant workers into their host societies, among others. The reading material covers both sending and receiving countries, as well as both high and low income contexts.
This course focuses on labour immigration into the developed world, and its ongoing consequences.... more This course focuses on labour immigration into the developed world, and its ongoing consequences. In the mid-1950s, the booming post-war economies such as Austria, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, and Sweden experienced labour shortages, and began to recruit foreign workers. Migrant labourers thus started to arrive in Europe in large numbers. These recruitments were supposed to be a short-term solution. Therefore, those recruited were considered guestworkers. However, things did not go as planned, and "guestworkers" happened to spend almost two decades in their host countries. By the time they were no longer needed, many had long begun new lives, and thus were reluctant to return. Their decision to stay has dramatically changed the social and cultural landscapes of many European cities. This course covers this story, which now extends to seven decades. The course, on the one hand, explores the long journeys of migrant workers and their descendants from the 1950s to the present day with a special focus on their efforts to protect themselves from discrimination and hate crimes, and achieve social and political equality. On the other hand, the course comparatively examines the policies of host countries on integration, rights, and citizenship.
The number of forcibly-displaced people in the world now exceed 65 million, due primarily to viol... more The number of forcibly-displaced people in the world now exceed 65 million, due primarily to violent conflict, persecution, and natural disasters. This course examines the hardships most refugees face during their journeys, in the process of resettlement and integration, and after return. It introduces students to the policies that govern the protection of and assistance to refugees, and the humanitarian responses by international organizations, nation-states, local governments, NGOs, and others in an effort to alleviate their suffering. The course also discusses the future challenges, such as climate-induced displacement.
This course introduces students to the politics of developing nations in the world. It revolves a... more This course introduces students to the politics of developing nations in the world. It revolves around their different developmental trajectories, and assesses the challenges of the emerging dynamics of globalization to their development prospects. The course is theme-based. It visits a wide variety of themes, including but not limited to the legacies of colonialism, the achievement of independence, nation and state-building processes, democratization, culture, poverty, corruption, and conflict. The primary focus is not on the study of individual countries, but students learn about a variety of countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Furthermore, the course helps students develop analytical skills to identify the key political and economic differences between the developed and developing world, as well as the significant variation in the latter.
This course is designed to familiarize students with the political dynamics of the modern Middle ... more This course is designed to familiarize students with the political dynamics of the modern Middle East. In the first two weeks, the coursework provides the students with a workable grounding in the political history of the Middle East. The Ottoman, colonial and Cold War periods, and the accompanying nation-building processes are central to these earlier classes. Then, the course turns to the contemporary Middle Eastern political contexts with a primary focus on the prevalent political perspectives such as nationalism, secularism, and political Islam. Case studies often accompany these investigations in order to help students to gain insights into the ways in which these perspectives shape the social and political life in the Middle East.
This course familiarizes students with Muslim-majority societies, and Islam-West relations, past ... more This course familiarizes students with Muslim-majority societies, and Islam-West relations, past and present. The course material covers, among other things, (1) the beliefs, values, traditions, and practices of contemporary Muslim-majority societies, (2) their social and political institutions, (3) the similarities and differences of all of the above to their Western counterparts, and (4) Islam-West relations, starting from the first encounters in the seventh century, and continuing into the present. The coursework draws from a wide variety of cases to demonstrate the diverse realities of the Muslim world. In addition to the assigned readings, students see four movies from four Muslim-majority countries to help enrich their understanding of the subject matter. Each film session ends with a 30-minute discussion period.