ANTH 228
Jihad Fall 2019
Division II
This is not the current course catalog

Most studies of the global jihad movement focus on ideology, operations, and strategy. Numerous studies have also focused on the individual psychology of those who join jihad groups. Often ignored are the cultural dimensions of Islamic jihad. This course examines both the “global” culture of jihad–those cultural elements of the movement that are common across national and linguistic borders–and the particular ways in which jihadi groups reflect and respond to the local cultures in which they operate. Among the topics to be considered are the ways in which jihad adherents use ritual, poetry, graphic imagery, dress and grooming codes, music, film, social media, dream interpretation, and mythology to fix their place in the world and advance their political and social agendas. The course will also examine the role of violence in creating a distinctive and exclusionary social milieu within jihad groups and in defining the relationship between these groups and the societies that surround and, in some cases, support them. Of particular interest for the course will be the ways in which cultural elements of jihadi groups and the jihadi “lifestyle” are mobilized to attract new recruits to the jihadi movement.