South Africa’s Institutions of Higher Learning

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-69
Author(s):  
Muhammed Haron
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Honors Program ◽  
Islamic Studies ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
The Social ◽  
Regional Universities ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
Insight Into

As a discipline, “Islamic studies” has attracted serious attention by a number of institutions of higher learning in predominantly nonMuslim societies. While southern Africa’s communities witnessed the inclusion of “Islam” as a subject in the faculties of theology at various regional universities as well as Christian seminaries, Muslim communities have clamored for the appointment of Muslim staff at universities to teach courses on Islam. On the whole, these educational developments bode well for the teaching and studying of Islam regionally, even though the purpose and objectives for doing so differ radically from one institution to the other. This essay first seeks to offer a brief insight into the teaching of “Islam” as a subject in theological/oriental/religious studies programs; it thereafter reflects upon “Islamic studies” as a social science discipline that has been included in the social science and humanities syllabus. It focuses on the BA Honors program to show the themes chosen for these programs and how scholars redesigned and changed these programs to meet modern needs. Apart from using “social change” as its theoretical framework, it also brings en passantinto view the insider/outsider binary that further frames the debates regarding the teaching and studying of Islam at these institutions in southern Africa generally and South Africa in particular. 

South Africa’s Institutions of Higher Learning

2014 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-69
Author(s):  
Muhammed Haron
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Honors Program ◽  
Islamic Studies ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
The Social ◽  
Regional Universities ◽  
Muslim Communities ◽  
Insight Into

As a discipline, “Islamic studies” has attracted serious attention by a number of institutions of higher learning in predominantly nonMuslim societies. While southern Africa’s communities witnessed the inclusion of “Islam” as a subject in the faculties of theology at various regional universities as well as Christian seminaries, Muslim communities have clamored for the appointment of Muslim staff at universities to teach courses on Islam. On the whole, these educational developments bode well for the teaching and studying of Islam regionally, even though the purpose and objectives for doing so differ radically from one institution to the other. This essay first seeks to offer a brief insight into the teaching of “Islam” as a subject in theological/oriental/religious studies programs; it thereafter reflects upon “Islamic studies” as a social science discipline that has been included in the social science and humanities syllabus. It focuses on the BA Honors program to show the themes chosen for these programs and how scholars redesigned and changed these programs to meet modern needs. Apart from using “social change” as its theoretical framework, it also brings en passantinto view the insider/outsider binary that further frames the debates regarding the teaching and studying of Islam at these institutions in southern Africa generally and South Africa in particular. 

scholarly journals The Use of Drones in the Spatial Social Sciences

Drones ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 112
Author(s):  
Ola Hall ◽  
Ibrahim Wahab
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Scientist ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
The Social

Drones are increasingly becoming a ubiquitous feature of society. They are being used for a multiplicity of applications for military, leisure, economic, and academic purposes. Their application in academia, especially as social science research tools, has seen a sharp uptake in the last decade. This has been possible due, largely, to significant developments in computerization and miniaturization, which have culminated in safer, cheaper, lighter, and thus more accessible drones for social scientists. Despite their increasingly widespread use, there has not been an adequate reflection on their use in the spatial social sciences. There is need for a deeper reflection on their application in these fields of study. Should the drone even be considered a tool in the toolbox of the social scientist? In which fields is it most relevant? Should it be taught as a course in the social sciences much in the same way that spatially-oriented software packages have become mainstream in institutions of higher learning? What are the ethical implications of its application in spatial social science? This paper is a brief reflection on these questions. We contend that drones are a neutral tool which can be good and evil. They have actual and potentially wide applicability in academia but can be a tool through which breaches in ethics can be occasioned given their unique abilities to capture data from vantage perspectives. Researchers therefore need to be circumspect in how they deploy this powerful tool which is increasingly becoming mainstream in the social sciences.

Approach to the Social Sciences in Religion Past and Present

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-20
Author(s):  
Robert Segal
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
The Social

The social sciences do threaten theology/religious studies even when they do not challenge either the reality of God or the reality of belief in the reality of God. The entries in RPP ignore this threat in the name of some wished-for harmony. The entries neither recognize nor refute the challenge of social science to theology/religious studies. They do, then, stand antithetically both to those whom I call "religionists" and to many theologians, for whom there is nothing but a challenge.

scholarly journals Job Ads Don’t Add Up: Arabic + Middle East + Texts ≠ Islam

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Islamic Studies ◽  
Faculty Positions ◽  
Job Advertisements ◽  
Scholarly Discourse ◽  
Job Ads ◽  
Insight Into

Abstract Job advertisements for Islamic studies faculty positions provide material and significant insight into the construction and reification of a normative Islam. These ads serve to further entrench inaccurate notions of “authentic” Islam. Quantitative and qualitative data demonstrate how religious studies colleagues craft job calls that replicate stereotypes about Islam and Muslims, how the study of Islam functions, and an Arab and Arabic-centric emphasis. Such ads prefer specific regions (the Middle East), languages (Arabic), and subjects (texts). Ironically, this archive shows that ads for jobs in the field of Islamic studies frequently instantiate biases and stereotypes that Islamic studies scholars dedicate their careers to dismantling. Stated hiring preferences, including teaching obligations, entrench an “essence” of Islam or Islamic studies at odds with scholarly discourse about Islam, Islamic studies, and religious studies that may be summarized as a simple, troubling equation: Islam = Middle East + Arabic + texts.

The Study of Women in Islam and the West: A Select Bibliography

Hawwa ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Haddad
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Muslim Women ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
The West ◽  
Production Of Knowledge ◽  
Women In Islam ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
The Social ◽  
Select Bibliography ◽  
Available Information

AbstractThis bibliography sets out to explore the topics that Muslim women in the West reflected on and researched as they joined the institutions of higher learning and began to have an input in the creation of knowledge. It also attempts to gather the available information about the experiences of Muslim women and surveys the available literature in English on Muslim women living in the West. While Muslim women have been professionally active in many fields, the bibliography is focused primarily on the production of knowledge by professors in the humanities and the social sciences and their contribution to our understanding of the debates about the women of Islam.

scholarly journals Tradisi Intelektual Fardhu Ain dan Fardhu Kifayah Pesantren dalam Menanggulangi Terorisme

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Muhammad Taqiyuddin
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Islamic Education ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Islamic Studies ◽  
Text Interpretation ◽  
Model Study ◽  
The Social ◽  
Contemporary Technology

Most people believe that religion and ideology contribute to the spread of terrorism. Thus, it can be seen from the method of text interpretation and the implementation of over-textual and rigid interpretations in religious studies that are very instant and indoctrinal; which resulted in the spread of 'radicalism'. This aspect forgets the essence of Islamic education which emphasizes tolerance, courtesy, and love for peace. Conversely, Islamic studies that are too contextual, will eliminate the epistemological footing; that is, their identity and essence, because they merely follow all the social changes that continue to occur without regard to the wisdom and wisdom of local wisdom. Thus, the search for knowledge is no longer sacred and then encourages the loss of etiquette (loss of adab). Therefore, conceptual efforts in Islamic education need to be carried out appropriately. This qualitative model study seeks to collect fragments and data from various studies based on Islamic turots on the fardhu ‘ain and fardhu kifayah models and their relevance in various contexts of Islamic studies such as integrative aspects between religious science and social science and contemporary technology. Through content analysis, thematic analysis as well as critical discourse analysis. This study concludes that the scientific equilibrium based on fardhu ‘ain and fardhu kifayah has proven to make Islamic insights and discourse broad and flexible, so as to give birth to attitudes that both physically and spiritually represent the essence of Islamic teachings themselves.

Researching Religion

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Bruce
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Religion And Spirituality ◽  
Social Patterns ◽  
Arts And Humanities ◽  
Shared Beliefs ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social

Basic questions about religion in the modern world (such as whether it is becoming more or less popular and who believes what) can be answered only with the perspectives and methods of social science. While the arts and humanities can help us understand religious beliefs and behaviour, only social science can provide us with the evidence that will allow us to discern and explain the social patterns, causes, and consequences of religious belief. Only through the statistical examination of big data can we be confident of what any case study represents. In a text described by one reviewer as ‘brilliantly accessible’, an internationally renowned sociologist addresses the major problems of theory and methods in the study of religion. Important topics in religious studies such as conversion, the relative durability of different types of religion and spirituality, and the social circumstances that strengthen or undermine shared beliefs are used to demonstrate the importance of social science and to address methodological issues such as bias, partisanship, and research ethics. Bruce presents a robust defence of a conventionally scientific view of value-neutral social science against its partisan and postmodern critics.

scholarly journals The Opper Project: Collaborating with Educators to Promote the Use of Editorial Cartoons in the Social Studies Classroom

2009 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny E. Robb
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Special Collections ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
The Social ◽  
Primary Documents ◽  
Editorial Cartoons ◽  
Physical Objects ◽  
K 12

Curators, archivists, and librarians who work in special collections, including those affiliated with institutions of higher learning, are increasingly debating the advantages and importance of serving wider user populations, with particular emphasis on K–12 educators and students. Likewise, K–12 teachers have been increasingly encouraged—even mandated—to make use in their pedagogy of the kinds of primary documents that are located in special collections and archives. The challenge for special collections professionals is to know what might be useful in the K–12 classroom and how to make it available in a way that protects the physical objects. . . .

Can One Be a Critical Caretaker?

2007 ◽  
Vol 19 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 332-342
Author(s):  
Michael Slater
Keyword(s):  
Religious Studies ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning

AbstractThere is a movement in the field of religious studies today which questions whether scholars of religion should have any interest in questions regarding the truth and value of religion. In this paper I critically examine the views of one of its leading figures, Russell T. McCutcheon, and argue that his views on the nature and study of religion are problematic in several key respects. Specifically, I argue that McCutcheon's basic methodological and theoretical claims are untenable, as is his well known distinction between "critics" and "caretakers" of religion. Having called into question McCutcheon's claim that being a critical scholar of religion is incompatible with being a "caretaker" of religion, I conclude with a brief reflection on his corollary claim that there are (or should be) "discursive constraints" on inquiry in public institutions of higher learning.

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