This course explores the historical, political, social and cultural aspects of the evolution of Islam in Central Asia from the 8^th century CE to the present.  It investigates the reasons and mechanisms of Islam's expansion in the region as well as its dynamic interactions with local religious traditions and ways of life. Rather than reducing Islam to a homogenous, static, and dogmatic creed, the course analyses diverse Muslim identities and practices across time and space, and how different communities of believers have adapted Islam's common patterns and denominators to survive in the frequently challenging environment.

The course applies historical, anthropological, and political science perspectives to provide insights into Islam's common framework, and the complexity and fluidity of Central Asian religious identities within this framework. By the end of the semester, students should be able to appreciate how sixty million Muslims in Central Asia follow their faith in terms of ritual, intellectual discourse, politics, and daily life.

Students will acquire expertise in the doctrines, rituals, customs, and artistic representations of diverse Muslim communities in Central Asia. They will be able to discern common patterns and localised varities within the political, social, and legal framework of Islam. Ideally, they would develop a critical and nuanced view of religion at loggerheads with the Orientalist and essentialist portrayal of Islam as a homogenous, stagnant, and universally threatening enttiy.

The course strives to enhance students' general writing and analytical ability.

5000 word essay (60%) and 3-hour exam (40%)

Lyudmila Polonskaya and Alexei Malashenko, Islam in Central Asia. Reading: Ithaca Press, 1994.

Maria Elisabeth Louw, Everyday Islam in post-Soviet Central Asia. London; New York: Routledge, 2007.