Traveling While Muslim: Islam, Mobility, and Security after 9/11 (384-0-1)

Instructors

Emrah Yildiz
847/467-6254
1819 Hinman Ave, #103
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 1-3pm
Emrah Yıldız joins the Department of Anthropology and the Middle East and North African Studies Program and as an Assistant Professor. His work is a historical anthropology of routes of mobility in the tri-border area among Iran, Turkey and Syria. His research lies at the intersection of historiography and ethnography of borders and their states; ritual practice, visitation and pilgrimage in Islam as well as smuggling and contraband commerce in global political economy.

Meeting Info

Harris Hall L06: Mon, Wed 5:00PM - 6:20PM

Overview of class

Particularly after the 9/11 attacks and during the war on terror that has ensued shortly thereafter, Muslims on the move—ranging from international students, pilgrims to scientists and artists—have faced increasing scrutiny and surveillance in both global travel and national immigration regimes. These regimes gained even more importance under the rule of authoritarian leaders in power across the globe from the US, through Hungary and Russia, to India. Some have argued that what unites Modi's India and Trump's United States is Islamophobia—albeit in different guises—as racialization of Islam and Muslims continues to punctuate our current era. What are the stakes of traveling while Muslim in that post 9/11 era? How do we come to understand such mobility? What assumptions underpin the attendant constructions of religion and race in such understandings, as various state and non-state actors enlist themselves to manage the movements of Muslims, specifically and exceptionally? In probing these questions, amongst others, in this seminar we aim to examine the interlocking relationship between Islam, mobility and security. We have three aims: (1) becoming well-versed in studies of Islam and Islamophobia in the US and across the globe, (2) gaining a better understanding of Islam as a central tenet in a deeply uneven and racialized regime of ‘global' mobility, and lastly, (3) critically analyzing global and local designs of security that manage those differential regimes of mobility.

Registration Requirements

None

Learning Objectives

By the end of the course, student will be able to (1) recognize prevalent interpretations of Islam, mobility and security in anthropological and allied disciplines; (2) evaluate core concepts related to Islamophobia in the era of securitization; (3) generate different theories about mobile Muslims by analyzing ethnographic evidence drawn from multiple world regions

Class Materials (Required)

All required texts with the exception of three book-length manuscripts below can be found under files on the course website.

Li, Darryl. 2019. The Universal Enemy: Jihad, Empire and the Challenge of Solidarity. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN-13 : 978-1503610873.

Rana, Junaid. 2011. Terrifying Muslims: Race and Labor in the South Asian Diaspora. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. ISBN-13: 978-0822349112.

Yıldız, Emrah. 2024. Zainab's Traffic: Moving Saints, Selves, and Others across Borders. Oakland, CA: University of California Press. ISBN-13: 978-0520379831

Class Notes

Course requirements Students will be evaluated on the basis of two 8-page papers (50%) and class participation (50%). Class participation includes (1) Regular attendance (10%) in seminar meetings and contribution to discussions; (2) Reading responses (25%); (3) Co-leading seminar discussion once (15%).

Class Attributes

Social & Behavioral Sciences Distro Area