France
Muslims, Jews, and Protestants in France: Identity, Memory, and the Politics of Belonging
June 5–12, 2008
Itinerary
This 8-day seminar takes place in Paris.
Seminar Fee
CIEE Member: $3,000 Non-Member: $3,200
Academic Content (please note this is tentative and subject to change)
Lectures
- Secular Society and Laïcité: The French and American Contexts
- 1905—2007: French Laïcité in Historical Context
- Jews and Muslims in the French Melting Pot: Comparative Policies of Integration
- Jews and Muslims in Algeria: The Colonial Creation of Difference
- World War II and the Shoah
- The Middle East Conflict and Its Interpretation by Contemporary Jews and Muslims in France
- Protestants and Catholics: The Historical Context
- Protestants in France: The Invisible Minority
- Protestant Evangelical Sects: Their Appeal and Their Inclusion/Exclusion
- Teaching “The Religious Fact” in Secular Schools
- Identities: Race, Religion, and Nationality as Identity Markers for Young People
- The Veil, the Cross, the Star of David, the Turban…
- Evoking Difference and Commemorating the Past: Museums and Memorials of Religious Conflict and “The Other”
Co-curricular Site Visits & Field Trips
- Guided Tour of the Great Mosque of Paris
- Guided Visit to a Protestant Evangelical Church
- Holocaust Memorial and Jewish Museum
- Visit to a Synagogue
- Visit to Bobigny (includes a Franco-Muslim Cemetery, Sufi Mosque, and Inter-Religious Charitable Organizations)
- Quai Branley Museum
- The Museum of Immigration
- Visit to a Public School and a Private School, Discussion with Educators
Rationale
In France today the definition of the membership in the national community is a central preoccupation. The role of religious identity in this is key and has been for centuries. France has a Catholic, or ex-Catholic, majority and a radically secular public policy (laïcité); what does this mean for Muslims, Jews, and Protestants? In this seminar, we will interrogate the nature of laïcité itself; hear from major scholars working on research related to Muslims, Jews, and Protestants in France; visit neighborhoods, places of worship, and schools; and visit and discuss the recently-built monuments and museums that commemorate religious conflict and that evoke images of national belonging.
Host Institutions
The seminar will be hosted by several important institutions linked to the study of religion, laïcité, and religious minorities in France. The principal host institution will be the Institute for the Study of Islam and Societies of the Muslim World (IISMM). Linked to the prestigious Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, the IISMM is an interdisciplinary center established in 1999 to support creative scholarship about Muslims and Islam, and several of IISMM’s scholars focus on other religious minorities as well. The IISMM promotes research and diffusion of knowledge and is characterized by its interdisciplinary perspective.
Seminar Leadership
Dr. Hamit Bozarslan is co-Director of the IISMM and lecturer at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Dr. Hannah Taïeb has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from New York University. Since 2000, she has worked in the field of study abroad, and is currently Resident Director of the Contemporary French Studies program at the CIEE Study Center in Paris, where she teaches Intercultural Communication and a class on multiculturalism and cultural mixing in the French context.
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