This is a comparative exploration of explosive combinations of religion and politics in such movements as the Taliban in Afghanistan, Jewish fundamentalism in Israel, Hindu fundamentalism in India, and Christian fundamentalism in America. The course will survey a number of recent theoretical treatments of the category of fundamentalism and the problem of religion and violence.
     Many of the worst conflicts in recent history have been based on nationalism and the ideological use of religious symbolism.  Bloody civil wars, revolutions, and strident mass political movements often use the identity of ethnic nationality or religious fundamentalism to achieve their aims.  A comparative treatment of this kind of ideology is designed to reveal how political leaders invoke the most powerful symbols available to make their authority unchallengeable.  This analysis is intended to show how nationalistic and fundamentalist rhetoric addresses such causes as alienation from modernity and colonial domination.

None. This course assumes no prior knowledge of the subject. In addition, one does not need to be a believer in any particular religion, or for that matter a skeptic, to realize the importance of religion and politics in history and in the contemporary world.

The basic goals of the course are three:

Gaining information about particular fundamentalist and nationalist movements and the theories that explain them:  in addition to studying and discussing the main text for the course, each student will also be expected to gain familiarity with one particular movement that will be studied in greater depth with a research paper.

Understanding problems related to the study of religion:
to equip you with tools to evaluate the ways in which religion is conceptualized and enacted in political contexts. The particular problems that we will discuss will include "essentialism" (the belief that a particular religion is always the same, regardless of history or variables such as politics), conflicting interpretations of religion, the nature of ideology,.
Developing analytical skills: to refine skills in thinking and writing, so that after the course students will be able to offer informed and insightful analysis of related topics.

Ahmed Rashid, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia
Mark Juergensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence
Bruce B. Lawrence, Defenders of God: The Fundamentalist Revolt Against the Modern Age 

We will also read selected texts and images available on the Internet, and we will make extensive use of films from UNC's large collection of films on Islam and the Middle East