Islam and Society in Southeast Asia

Indonesia is the nation with the world’s largest Muslim population, and Malaysia and the southern Philippines are regions with vibrant Islamic traditions. Islam has been essential in the development of Southeast Asian cultures, literatures, and arts for over seven hundred years, and Southeast Asian Islam is intimately tied to the Islamic world. This upper-division undergraduate course will be an investigation into key discourses on the cultures and politics of Islam in Southeast Asia. We will trace the processes through which Islam entered the Malay world in the 13th century. We will explore the European colonial encounters with Islam in Southeast Asia and the ways that Islam interacted with and resisted colonialism. We will discuss the role of mysticism and Sufi associations, and of reformist movements in the 18th through the 21st centuries. And we will analyze the place of Islam in Southeast Asian arts and literature. We will consider the majority Muslim nations of Indonesia and Malaysia, and will also explore the struggles of Islam as a minority religion in the Philippines and Thailand. Readings will include primary sources in translation, literary texts, ethnographic works, and writings by colonial and local scholars. Note: this course is writing-intensive and discussion-based.