Religion and Secularism in the Modern Me

From the rise of Italian Fascism to the Siege of Sarajevo to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, politicians, media figures, and other public voices have framed the Mediterranean as a place of senseless religiosity and an inability to embrace secular rationality — often to argue for the inevitability or necessity of violent intervention. This course tells a different story. Through primary sources and close secondary commentary, we trace how the categories of religion and secularism took shape in the region, and how those who live with these categories think, reflect, inhabit, and struggle over them — not as a simple conflict between tradition and modernity, but as part of larger, shared questions about what it means to be human. Each week poses a foundational question and offers responses through both primary sources and foundational texts in anthropology, history, and religious studies.

Although the course draws on specialized scholarship, no previous coursework in anthropology, religious studies, or the languages of the region is required or presumed; all readings are in English or English translation, and necessary background will be provided in class.