Music and Islam (310-0-70)

Instructors

Leila Tayeb

Meeting Info

Northwestern Qatar Room 2-258: Tues, Su 8:30AM - 9:45AM (AST)

Overview of class

"What does Islam "say" about music? This course will trace circulations of this question in scholarly, popular, media, and religious discourses. Why and how does it matter what sound is called music and not, what music is called Islamic and not? We ask both how the thinking and the doing of music and Islam have been entangled in particular moments and places and how and why Muslim and non-Muslim scholars have sought out these entanglements.
In the first part of the semester, we explore competing definitions of music and of Islam, unpacking the stakes of scholarly, theological, and popular inquiries into these demarcations. In the second, third, and fourth parts of the course, we dig into case studies under the themes of music in and of al-Andalus, "Islamic music" and the popular, and music and trance practices. The semester's end returns us to and broadens some of the questions with which we began, this time through an exploration of sonic territories."

Registration Requirements

Prerequisites: None

Open to Juniors and above

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Registration is reserved for NU Qatar Juniors and Seniors Only