Seminar in Middle East and North African Studies (301-1-1)

Topic

Traveling While Muslim: Islam, Mobility, and Secur

Instructors

Emrah Yildiz
847/467-6254
1819 Hinman Ave, #103
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 1-3pm

Meeting Info

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

Overview of class

Traveling While Muslim: Islam, Mobility, and Security after 9/11

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.

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