THE REPRESENTATIONS OF ARABS, ISLAM AND MUSLIM IN THE UNITED STATES FROM 1820 TO THE ARAB UPRISINGS JMM707 Dr. Anna Viden

CLASS-MEETING THURSDAY FEB Meet and greet: presentation of instructor and students 2. Course Introduction: presentation of syllabus, goals, expectations, assignments and methods of evaluation. 3. Q and A 4. Discussion of Hurd reading: Hurd, Elizabeth. "Secularism and Islam". The Politics of Secularism in International Relations. Ithaca: Cornell University Press,

SECULARISM AND ISLAM Key concepts: Secularism, First amendment, Islam, Religious Awakenings, American exceptionalism, democracy promotion, Sykes Picot, Arab nationalism, Arab awakening, the Arab revolt

RECOMMENDED BOOKS Scott Anderson: Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East. Anchor, 2014 Michael Oren. Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East: 1776 to the Present. New York: W. W. Norton, 2007.

FIRST AMENDMENT The First Amendment of the United States Constitution: Protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference. Freedom of expression consists of the rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly and to petition the government for a redress of grievances, and the implied rights of association and belief. The Supreme Court interprets the extent of the protection afforded to these rights. The First Amendment has been interpreted by the Court as applying to the entire federal government even though it is only expressly applicable to Congress. Furthermore, the Court has interpreted, the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as protecting the rights in the First Amendment from interference by state governments.

“SEPARATION” OF CHURCH AND STATE Two clauses in the First Amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The establishment clause prohibits the government from passing legislation to establish an official religion or preferring one religion over another. It enforces the "separation of church and state." Some governmental activity related to religion has been declared constitutional by the Supreme Court. For example, providing bus transportation for parochial school students and the enforcement of "blue laws" is not prohibited. The free exercise clause prohibits the government, in most instances, from interfering with a person's practice of their religion.

ESTABLISHMENT CLAUSE The First Amendment’s Establishment Clause prohibits the government from making any law “respecting an establishment of religion.” This clause not only forbids the government from establishing an official religion, but also prohibits government actions that unduly favor one religion over another. It also prohibits the government from unduly preferring religion over non-religion, or non-religion over religion. One point of contention regarding the Establishment Clause is how to frame government actions that implicate religion.

FRENCH LAICITE: RELEGATION OF RELIGION TO THE PRIVATE SPHERE The establishment of a national education system in 1882 marked an important landmark in France's transition to secularism. The government of France officially ended relations with the Holy See in the early twentieth century and enacted the 1905 Law on the Separation of Church and State, which codified the separation of church and state by establishing the principle of laïcité. The 1905 law also emphasized the strict religious neutrality of the state, guaranteed the freedom of religious exercise, prohibited public funding of religions, outlawed the display of religious symbols on public buildings, and designated all religious buildings built before 1905 as property of the French government. Laïcité became increasingly entrenched in the fabric of French political culture during the early twentieth century, even as most French continued to identify as Catholic.

RELIGIOUS AWAKENINGS The Great Awakening: name given to the evangelical religious movement which swept America in the 18th and 19th centuries. The first wave began shortly after the arrival of European settlers in the early 1700's and resulted in the growth of the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist Churches. The Second Great Awakening began in the last decade of the 18th century and reached its peak in the second half of the 19th century in the revivalist oratory and hymnody of camp meetings and in gatherings of the Salvation Army, the YMCA, and other Protestant affiliated sects.

MOVIE CLIPS Secularism, Islam and Democracy Islam, Catholicism and the Secular Michael Oren: Power and Fantasy Lawrence of Arabia

Attack on Aqaba Scott Anderson on Lawrence of Arabia: Sykes Picot Arab revolt