History 430 - The Cross and the Crescent

Instructor: Dr. Daniel W. Skubik, PhD JD
Office: J266 / Office Hours per schedule
Tel: 951.343.4288 / Fax: 951.343.4520
Web: http://www.calbaptist.edu/dskubik
E-Mail: dskubik@calbaptist.edu

The Cross & the Crescent

HIS 430
Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays, 9:00-9:50AM

California Baptist University
Fall Semester, 2010

Course Description

This course traces the history of Christian-Muslim relations over the last fourteen centuries, from the rise of Islam in the early AD/CE 7^th century to the confrontations between Islamists and the secular West in the AD/CE 21^st century. The course surveys several primary and key secondary texts for understanding Islam and the varied relations between Islamic- and Christian-oriented societies over time. Topics examined in greater detail include Muhammad and the beginnings and rise of Islam, Jesus and other Biblical figures in the Qur’an (Koran), cooperation and competition during the Middle Ages, the Crusades, and modern radical elements in Islam and Christianity.

The course is open to all students able and willing to engage in upper division study, and can be used to fulfill history major or minor upper division unit requirements, or general education requirements.

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1) Understand and discuss the rise and spread of Islam in its early years, AD/CE 7^th-9^th centuries

2) Analyze and discuss the wide acceptance and spread of Islam in its later years, AD/CE 10^th-16^th centuries

3) Analyze and discuss the role of Islam as a religion and a way of life in various countries after the rise of the West, AD/CE 17^th-21^st centuries

4) Understand and discuss the varied positive, competitive and internecine interactions between Islam and Christianity when and where they came into contact or conflict

5) Analyze and discuss the impacts of Islam and Christianity as religions and ways of life on contemporary affairs

Required Texts

1. Reza Aslan, No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam (Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2006) ISBN-13: 978-0812971897 [Aslan]

2. The Qur'an [translated by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem] (Oxford University Press, 2008) ISBN-13: 978-0199535958 [Qur’an]

3. Richard Fletcher, The Cross and the Crescent: The Dramatic Story of the Earliest Encounters Between Christians and Muslims (Penguin, 2005) ISBN-13: 978-0143034810 [Fletcher]

4. * Martin Lings, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources rev. ed. (Inner Traditions, 2006) ISBN-13: 978-1594771538 [Only ~½ the class will read this text. Do not purchase until we meet and text is assigned.] [Lings]

5. * Jonathan Phillips, Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades (Random House, 2010) ISBN-13: 978-1400065806 [Only ~½ the class will read this text. Do not purchase until we meet and text is assigned.] [Phillips]

* Books 1-3 are required texts for all students. Books 4-5 will be assigned in consultation with the instructor, so that roughly half the class will read #4 and the other half will read #5. Other books, handouts and websites also may be referenced throughout the term, contents of which all students will be responsible.

Readings & Assignments Schedule

Week #1 (Sep 1/3)	Introduction to course, requirements and expectations / Intro to historical-religious studies and early Christianity
Week #2 (Sep 6/8/10)	8^th & 10^th: early Christianity & pre-Islamic Arabia / Read Aslan, ch. 1 Sep 6: No class meeting, Labor Day holiday
Week #3 (Sep 13/15/17)	Bible and Qur’an Read Qur’an, pp. ix-xxxvi and Sura 1
Week #4 (Sep 20/22/24)	Read Aslan, ch.2 Read Fletcher, ch.1
Week #5 (Sep 27/29 /Oct 1)	Read Aslan, ch.3 Read Fletcher, ch.2
Week #6 (Oct 4/6/8)	Continue discussion online, using Blackboard [Bb] No face-to-face class meetings this week [Int’l Bar Assoc conference in Vancouver]
Week #7 (Oct 11/13/15)	Read Aslan, chs.4-5
Week #8 (Oct 18/20/22)	Midterms Week: midterm date tbd by majority vote of class
Week #9 (Oct 25/27/29)	Read Aslan, ch.6 Read Fletcher, ch.3-4
Week #10 (Nov 1/3/5)	Read Aslan, ch.7 Read Fletcher, ch.5
Week #11 (Nov 8/10/12)	Read Aslan, ch.8 Read Fletcher, ch.6
Week # 12 (Nov 15/17/19)	Read Aslan, ch. 9
Week #13 (Nov 22/24/26)	No class meetings this week, Thanksgiving Break Book Review due no later than 11:59PM, Wednesday, 24^th for extra credit
Week #14 (Nov 29/Dec 1/3)	Read Aslan, ch. 10 Read Phillips, pp.308-351 [also available on Bb]
Week #15 (Dec 6/8/10)	Review for Final Examination Book Review due no later than 11:59PM, Wednesday, 8^th
Wednesday, Dec 15	Final Examination period as set by University, 8:00AM-10:00AM

Assessment & Grading Scale

Book Review = 25%	90 - 100 = A range (90-94 = A-)
Midterm Exam = 20%	80 - 89 = B range (80-83 = B- / 87-89 = B+)
Final Exam = 25%	70 - 79 = C range (70-73 = C- / 77-79 = C+)
Quizzes = 20% (5 @ 4% each)	60 - 69 = D range (60-63 = D- / 67-69 = D+)
Participation = 10%	0 - 59 = F

Book Review

An individual book review of either Lings or Phillips (as assigned at the beginning of class) is due through Blackboard no later than 11:59PM, Wednesday, December 8^th. Late submissions will not be accepted for grading.

Early submission, no later than 11:59PM, Wednesday, November 24^th, will earn 5% extra credit. An additional 5% extra credit can also be earned if material garnered from reading the assigned text is made clearly evident in one’s class participation and on the midterm exam.

For Lings: read pages 1-94 + 297-362, and write a 1500-word critique (~5 pages), utilizing the historical data, concepts and arguments discussed in class and our readings.

For Phillips: read pages 3-50 + 166-217 + 273-307, and write a 1500-word critique (~5 pages), utilizing the historical data, concepts and arguments discussed in class and our readings.

For either critique, include some discussion of (1) what the author seems to get right (with reasons), (2) what the author seems to get wrong (with reasons), and (3) what key lessons you learned from reading and critiquing this text—lessons either personal or as a historian.

Quizzes

There will be 7 quizzes given during the term (roughly, one every other week and usually announced one class ahead), though only your best 5 quizzes will count towards your final grade for the course. Students will form small, stable study groups of 2-3 students each by the second week of classes for the duration of the term. Quizzes will be taken by each group as a group, with the quiz mark shared by those present and taking the quiz on any particular class day. The quizzes are objective in nature (true/false, multiple choice, fill-in the blank, matching, etc), concerning material most recently covered in the previous class session or relating to material to be covered in class that day.

Midterm & Final Examinations

A midterm and final examination will be given at the middle and end of the term, per the University schedule. The exams are not comprehensive, but will cover all materials and discussions assigned during each half of the term.

Specific guidance as to length and specific requirements will be proffered before each exam date. Format generally will emphasize short answer and essay questions, requiring application of historical concepts and principles in relation to the topics covered in class.

Each exam is closed book/open notes. This means you are permitted to bring to the exam one standard-sized page (8½” x 11”) of notes you have personally prepared, front and back, without regard to print-size or margins. Other materials, such as website printings or professionally prepared texts or notes, are not permitted.

Participation

Although speaking in class, publicly putting and defending a position or interpretation, can be daunting, you are strongly encouraged to learn to think through your own and others’ experiences and insights within the context of our discussions. In this context, you are not being evaluated for reaching “right” conclusions, but for demonstrating your facility in forming arguments for any conclusions put, given the material we will cover in class.

To give direct incentive to so engage, 10% of your mark for the course will be comprised of my assessment of your classroom participation during the semester. Participation is to include in-class and online discussions during the semester, and does not include attendance.

Both because of the nature of the course and its content, and the teamwork required to complete assigned assessment items like quizzes, attendance is expected, with a simple threshold requirement: we have 37 scheduled class sessions, and you are expected to attend at least 28 class sessions (~75%). Should you miss more than 9 class sessions (~25%), you must speak with me before you will be permitted to complete the course.

CBU Statement on Academic Dishonesty

Faculty in the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) have been asked to include the following statement in all our syllabi. Do speak with your instructor if at any time you have questions or concerns about this statement and its meaning for or application in your classes.

Academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism, copying, and other forms) will be reported to the Dean of Students. Judicial sanctions for offense are handled on a case-by-case basis depending on the seriousness of the violation, prior violations and other factors. Judicial sanctions may include, but are not limited to, loss of a letter grade or failure in the course in which the offense occurred, suspension, and/or dismissal from the University. A detailed discussion of academic dishonesty is located in the Student Handbook.

Source: 2009-2010 Undergraduate University Catalog, at p.53

Caveat

This syllabus schedule is composed in good faith, with a schedule of readings and assignments that will guide us throughout the term. Still, the instructor reserves the right to make adjustments to this schedule as deemed necessary for the overall enterprise of the course. Any changes will be communicated as far in advance as feasible, and you are responsible for knowing if and when any changes have been made.