MSU offers courses on Islamophobia and antisemitism

Undergraduate seminars, or UGS, are educational opportunities offered by Michigan State University with a wide range of section themes that encourage the critical thinking essential for Spartan success. MSU is highlighting two UGS sections scheduled for this fall that embody MSU’s commitment to inclusion and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Due to a significant rise in national cases of anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish rhetoric, discrimination and physical attacks, faculty members from MSU’s Muslim Studies Program and the Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel have expanded on-campus conversations surrounding Islamophobia and antisemitism through two undergraduate seminar sections this upcoming fall semester.

Big Ideas Seminar Series (UGS 201) Inclusive Spotlight:

UGS 201-738: Islam, Muslims and Islamophobia

This seminar aims to provide students with a working knowledge of the religion of Islam and the core beliefs and practices that have defined Muslim communities, as well as certain influential contemporary anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic discourses and sentiments. This course will feature expert speakers, an optional visit to a local mosque and film viewings. At the end of this course, students should be able to describe basic facts about the worldwide Muslim population and certain influential and problematic tropes and stereotypes in popular portrayals of Muslims. Lecturers include Stephen Gasteyer, Salah Hassan, Rebecca Karam, Shayan Rajani, Morgan Shipley, Rachel Winter and Mohammad Khalil. This course will run for seven weeks from Sept. 7 to Oct. 26.

UGS 201-740: Historical and Contemporary Antisemitism

This seminar will give students the opportunity to explore key elements of Jewish history, religion, and experience and, in the process, examine historic and contemporary manifestations of antisemitism as part of that experience. Students will learn to identify prominent tropes and historical definitions of antisemitism and their variations across different historical and cultural contexts, in particular, as part of Jewish experiences of integration/prejudice in Europe and the United States and in discourse around Israel. Students will learn to explain the interplay between antisemitism and broader societal issues, strategies to promote inclusion and build alliances, and how to advocate against hatred. This course includes short lectures by MSU professors Yael Aronoff, Kirsten Fermaglich, Morgan Shipley, Amy Simon and Laura Yares, as well as clips from films, exhibit tours and videos from additional renowned experts. This course runs for five weeks from Aug. 31 to Oct. 4 and is primarily online and asynchronous, with attendance required at only one in-person event that is selected from a half dozen choices offered.

Both seminars are restricted to first- and second-year students, but students can request overrides through course administrators by emailing lucasaly@msu.edu and jamesna1@msu.edu.

Addressing a need to reach more students

Nearly seven years ago, an interdisciplinary group of MSU faculty met to develop and launch what has become Conversations on Antisemitism and Islamophobia. These on-campus conversations — which are open to all MSU campus community members — are designed to give participants the opportunity to ask questions and share their observations and experiences while learning to contribute to the inclusivity of MSU’s campus community. We encourage students, faculty and staff to register for these conversations through the above link; the next conversation is scheduled for Sept. 24 at 5 p.m.

Despite these campus conversations and existing courses offered by the Muslim studies and Jewish studies programs, faculty members from both programs saw an ongoing need to reach more students with in-depth study and discussions of antisemitism and Islamophobia. This need led to the development of these asynchronous one-credit online course seminars. By design, these seminars are structured to reach as many students as possible, giving more Spartans the opportunity to educate themselves and contribute to a more informed and inclusive campus environment.

To learn more about undergraduate seminars and the variety of sections offered, visit MSU’s Undergraduate Education website.