"Islam in Asia" workshop

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

I went to the “Islam in Asia” workshop on May 5. It was excellent! Each professor delivered an engaging and dynamic presentation. I walked away from the workshop with a deeper understanding of the Islamic way of the life in China, its connections to “Global Islam,” and the complexities of the various minority groups in China.

The first presenter was Professor Barbara Pillsbury who discussed “Being Muslim in China.” Pillsbury lectured on the uniqueness of practicing Islam in China, such as Muslims living in a society that eats pork. The photographs of Chinese mosques were beautiful, yet vastly different from the traditional Islamic mosques. Although, Islam is practiced within an Asian framework, Pillsbury stresses that Muslims in China are connected via the Five Pillars. It is vital for our students to understand that Islam is very diverse from country to country, but that Muslims are part of a “Global Islam” that connects every Muslim.

The workshop also included a technology connection that resonates very strong with our students. Peter Gottschalk presented his virtual Indian village. The website is well designed and very easy to navigate. The website allows students to personalize with the people of “Arampur.” Students meet several villagers from various occupations, religions, and social castes. The website is a useful tool for students to compare and contrast life of several villagers. Students can also use the interviews to identify the significance of rituals, the composition of the family in India, and describe the impact of the outside world on a small Indian village.

Gary Makati of SPICE (Standford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education ) identified the main ideas of each presentation and demonstrated how those ideas could be used in the classroom. He suggested that students could be given a list of countries and instructed to rank them from strongest to lowest concentration of Muslims. After teacher reveals the actual top countries, students can create a key on their map using the information. This activity could be completed as an introduction to the idea of “Global Islam.” (A similar idea is included Islamic Civilization and the Art, SPICE, pg. 17). It was a great way to ensure that all participants walked away with a series of teachable ideas to use in the classroom. It was an enjoyable workshop, which I absolutely recommend for next year.

[Anonymous]

Many people do not realize that parts of Asia contain some of the most densely populated Islamic areas in the world. Most are so focussed on Islam in the Middle east especially since the War in Iraq. Our students need to realize that Islam is a global religion and it has a huge presence in parts of Asia. Some such Asian areas include Indonesia, Malaysia, Northern Philippines, Southern Thailand. Another misconception people have is that all Muslims are militant and radical. We need to teach students that Radical MUSLIMS make up only a small percentage of the Muslim population.
A good activity would be to have students research Islam in different regions of the world. Then they are to report the similarities and differences between world Muslim groups.

John Yamazaki

[Anonymous]

Greetings,

Just the other day I heard a report from NPR about the changing face of radical Islam. In the wake of the terrorist attacks perpetrated by doctors in Europe, NPR reported on a book written by a Princeton professor. This professor, has researched the activity of radical Muslims and he has found that more and more educated Muslims are being recruited by radical groups. It was previously thought that education was the key to stop radical Islamic militants and that radical Muslims came from the poorest and least educated classes of society. The recent bombings in Europe show that more Muslim scientists and other educated Muslims are being recruited. I still believe that education and a broader world view is necessary to stop such recruitment.

John Yamazaki

[Author]

Posts