Islam vs. Music: From Qawwali to Hip Hop

This course interrogates seminal issues in the academic study of Islam through its representation in various forms of popular musical expression.  The class is structured around key theoretical readings from a range of academic disciplines ranging from art history and anthropology to comparative literature and religion. 

The course begins with an exploration of the links between religion and popular culture (hooks). This is followed by an exploration of the connection between Muslim Sufi-inflected practices in South Asia and the ubiquity of Qawwali across Pakistan and India.  The course then shifts to Orientalism frameworks (Said) through a case study involving the songs in two competing versions of Aladdin.  These frameworks are then tied to the racial scaffolding thar informed the converion (to various forms of Islam) of a wave of mid 20th century American Jazz musicians.  The second half of the course examones Hip Hop through the lens of race, immigration, and colonialism.  Finally, the class examines the spread of Hip Hop to a global audience as a powerful means for expressing the marginalization of immigrant/colonized Muslim communities.