Framing Islam: Critical Issues in Media, Culture and Politics
04:567:473
Fall 2010
Professor: Dr. Deepa Kumar
Office: 107 SCILS Building
Office Phone: 732-932-7500 (8174)
email: dkumar@scils.rutgers.edu
Office Hours: Monday and by appointment
Description
Since the event of 9/11, the image of Muslims and Islam in the West has deteriorated
considerably. The "clash of civilizations" rhetoric, which sees Muslim majority countries
as static, violent, and sexist, has been dominant in the public sphere. Now, more than
ever, it is essential to put aside stereotypes and caricatures to understand the real history
of the “Muslim world” and its relationship with the West. This course examines the ways
in which Muslims have been constructed in popular discourse in the United States over
the last half century, with a particular emphasis on Political Islam. We will not be
studying the religion Islam as such, rather we will look at the cultural constructions of
“Islam” and examine its political uses.
We begin with the assumption that in order to fully understand contemporary rhetoric, it
is important to examine the historical encounter between the West and the part of the
world where Islam is the dominant religion, which spans fourteen centuries. We therefore
start with an overview of this encounter, paying particular attention to the history of
colonialism in the last few centuries and the role of the British and French, and later US,
empires in crafting particular images of Islam.
The course then looks at the relationship between the US and Muslim majority countries
after the Second World War, when the US took over the reins of power from Britain and
France. We examine US policy in relation to secular nationalism and its alliance with
Islamist organizations during the Cold War. We also study the rise of Political Islam in its
own context. Equipped with this historical knowledge we then examine how this story
has been told by the mainstream media in order to make sense of post 9/11 discourse. We
will look at both the news media as well as popular entertainment.
*Course Goals and Outcome*
1. Students will learn that images and stereotypes of Islam and Muslims in the West are
rooted in political and historical relationships. They will learn how to access information
and distinguish between facts and prejudice.
2. Students will learn how to think critically about simplistic caricatures and methods of
story telling related to Islam/Muslims. This will enable students who wish to be
journalists, film makers, television producers, educators or otherwise involved in the
process of image making to construct complex narratives about the “Muslim world.”
Required Books
Dona J. Stewart (2009), The Middle East Today: Political, Geographical and Cultural
Perspectives, New York: Routledge.
Please be sure to purchase the aforementioned books. All the remaining readings are
available on-line at the library web site. Please be sure to down load the articles well in
advance of when they will be discussed in class.
Class Format
Classes will consist of a variety of the following methods:
*Lectures
*Small and large group discussions
*Video presentations of news segments and educational videos
*Presentations by students
Requirements
The following are the assignments upon which your grade will be determined.
1. Class participation and attendance—20%
Participation: This class will be conducted like a seminar. I will lecture at the beginning
of class and will explain complex theories and concepts; I will also bring in extra
materials to help you contextualize the readings. After this you will you will be asked to
discuss various questions related to the articles you have read for class or the videos that
you will watch. You will do this both in small groups and as a class. Your participation in
class is therefore mandatory. In order to participate, you must come to class having done
the readings for the day. As part of your participation grade, you will be required to bring
in examples from the media that demonstrate some aspect of the concepts you will learn
in this class. You will present both the concept and how your article, picture, movie,
trailer or comic etc. demonstrates that concept (5%).
Attendance: You will be required to attend classes regularly. You are allowed to miss 2
classes beyond which you will be penalized.
2. Exams—50%
There will be a mid term and a final exam in this class
3. Term paper and presentation—30%
You will select one or several media products (films, tv show, magazine articles,
newspaper articles etc.) and analyze its representation of Muslim majority countries. You
will present your research in class (10%) and then write an 4-5 page term paper (20%).
Plagiarism: Except for collaborative/group assignments all work a student submits must
be his/her own independent effort. Students must cite properly all outside sources
consulted in preparing written assignments. Students should review the university policy
on Academic Integrity (see the website for the Teaching Excellence Center). Failure to
comply with this policy can result in failure of the course.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE 
The Birth of Islam and Early Encounters with the West
09/7: Introduction
The Middle East Today, chapters 1-2
Christian Christiansen, “Islam and the Media”
09/14: The Middle East Today, chapter 4
Maxime Rodinson, “Western Views of the Muslim world,” in Europe and the
Mystique of Islam, pp. 3- 37, New York: IB Tauris, 2006.
09/21: Zachary Lockman, “In the Beginning” and “Islam, the West, and the rest,” in
Contending Visions of the Middle East: The History and Politics of the Middle
East, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Screening: An Islamic History of Europe
available at http://blog.wyzemoro.com/documentary-film-an-islamic-history-ofeurope/
The Ottomans, Orientalism, and Colonization
09/28: The Middle East Today, chapters 5-6
Maxime Rodinson, “Western Views of the Muslim world,” in Europe and the
Mystique of Islam, New York: IB Tauris, 2006, pp. 37-82
Karim H. Karim, “Orientalist Imaginaries,” in Islamic Peril: Media and Global
Violence, New York: Blackrose Books, 2003.
Screening: Edward Said on Orientalism
The Cold War, the United States and the “Muslim World”
10/05: Douglas Little, “Orientalism American Style,” “Opening the Door,” in American
Orientalism: The United States and the Middle East since 1945. Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press.
Gilbert Achcar, “US Imperial Strategy in the Middle East,” in Eastern Cauldron:
Islam, Afghanistan, Palestine, and Iraq in a Marxist Mirror. New York: Monthly
Review Press, 2003.
The “Clash of Civilizations” and its Critics
10/12: Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations,” Foreign Affairs, 1993.
Edward Said, “The Clash of Definitions,” in Emran Qureshi and Michael E. Sells
(eds) The New Crusades: Constructing the Muslim Enemy, New York: Columbia
University Press, 2003.
Mahmood Mamdani, “Culture Talk; or how not to talk about Islam and Politics,”
in Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, The Cold War, and the Roots of Terror,
New York: Doubleday, 2004.
Screening: Edward Said on “The Myth of the Clash of Civilizations”
10/19: Mid Term Exam
Political Islam and the “Islamic Threat”
10/26: Examining the “Islamic Threat”
Bernard Lewis, “The Roots of Muslim Rage,” Atlantic Magazine, September,
1990.
Mohammed Ayoob, “Defining Concepts, Demolishing Myths,” in Many Faces of
Political Islam, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2008.
John L. Esposito, “Islam and the West,” in The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?
(3rd edition), New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Fred Halliday, “Islam and the West,” in Islam and the Myth of Confrontation,
New York: I B Tauris, 2003.
11/02: Reflections of the “Islamic Threat” in Media and Culture
Karim H. Karim, “Assassins, Kidnappers, Hostages,” in Islamic Peril: Media and
Global Violence, New York: Blackrose Books, 2003.
Lina Khatib, “Representing Islamic Fundamentalism,” in Filming the Modern
Middle East: Politics in the Cinemas of Hollywood and the Arab World, New
York: I B Tauris, 2006.
Screening: Reel Bad Arabs
11/09: Mediating the Iranian Revolution and the Hostage Crisis
Edward Said, “The Iran Story,” in Covering Islam: How the Media and Experts
Determine how we see the rest of the world, New York: Pantheon Books, 1981.
Melani McAlister, “Iran, Islam and the Terrorist threat,” in Epic Encounters:
Culture, Media and US interests in the Middle East since 1945, Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2005.
Class analysis: Not Without My Daughter (please view the film before class)
11/16: The US, Israel, and Palestine
Norman Finkelstein, “Zionist Orientations” and “Born of War, Not by Design,” in
Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, New York: Verso, 1995.
Stephen Zunes, “The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,” in Tinderbox: US Middle East
Policy and the Roots of Terrorism, Monroe, ME: Common Courage Press, 2003.
Screening: Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land
11/23: The US and the Growth of Militant Islam: Afghanistan and Pakistan
Gilles Kepel, “Jihad in Afghanistan,” in Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam,
Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002.
Carol Stabile and Deepa Kumar, “Unveiling Imperialism: Media, Gender, and the
War on Afghanistan,” Media, Culture and Society, Vol. 27, no. 5, September,
2005.
Class analysis: Wikileak documents on the Afghan war and the news media
Screening: They Call Me Muslim
11/30: 9/11, the “War on Terror” and Islamophobia
Deepa Kumar, “Framing Islam: The Resurgence of Orientalism during the Bush II
Era,” Journal of Communication Inquiry, No. 34, vol. 3, 2010.
Fred Halliday, “Anti-Muslimism and Contemporary Politics,” in Islam and the
Myth of Confrontation, New York: I B Tauris, 2003.
Screening: Hijacking Catastrophe
12/07: Student presentations

 The schedule is subject to change and students are required to keep up with these
changes.