In response to a growing interest in Islam and Muslim cultures, the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Hawai‘i Mānoa (UHM) has created an Islamic studies undergraduate certificate program.
The purpose of this certificate is to increase understanding of Islam as a world religion through critical analysis of primary and secondary materials, to foster knowledge about the complexity among Islamic societies and their diverse cultural expressions, and to explore the role of Islam and Muslims in present and past world affairs.
Requirements:
- 15 credit hours of relevant coursework.
- REL 209 recommended first, and including HIST 354 and PHIL 330.
- Two electives selected from: ART 491B, 492B, 493, HIST 301, 302, 355, 432, and REL 352. (One course in Arabic language may be used as one of the electives.)
- A final research project in association with an elective class. Advanced undergraduates with GPA of 3.5 or above may, with instructor consent, use credit from the following graduate classes: ART/ASAN 792, HIST 662, or PHIL 730.
The certificate program is also open to non-UH students who may register through the Outreach College. Plans are to extend offerings to businesses, the military, and other sources that operate in Muslim areas.
Tamara Albertini describes Islamic Studies at UHM.
Faculty include:
- Tamara Albertini is an associate professor of philosophy specializing in Renaissance and Islamic thought. She is working on The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Philosophy. Previous writings address Muslim intellectual contributions from the classical period. She has served on the steering committee for two East-West Philosophers’ Conferences and the editorial board for Philosophy East and West.
- Ned Bertz is an assistant professor of history teaching undergraduate and graduate classes on the history of South Asia, the Indian Ocean world, Indian popular cinema and Africa. His published research focuses on themes of race, nationalism and diaspora as they intersect in travel, trade and cultural exchanges across the Indian Ocean world.
- James D. Frankel is an assistant professor of religion interested in the comparative history of ideas and religious and cultural syncretism. His forthcoming book, Rectifying God’s Name: Liu Zhi’s Translation of Monotheism and Islamic Ritual Law in Neo-Confucian China (University of Hawaiʻi Press) examines Chinese Islamic scholarship and literature of the early Qing (1644-1911) period.
- Paul Lavy is an assistant professor of South and Southeast Asian art history. He investigates the links between art/architecture and politics in early Southeast Asia history with primary interests in the Hindu-Buddhist artistic traditions associated with Mekong Delta and Preangkorian Khmer civilizations and their relationships with the art of South Asia.
For more information, contact Dr. James Frankel, jamesdf@hawaii.edu.
Please find a list (not exhaustive) of courses focused on Islam or Muslim Societies offered the Spring 2013 semester at UHM. (Currently being updated.)
Learn more about the Islamic studies program from this article.
