Islam in Asia

Please click here for a summary of the workshop.

USC U.S. - China Institute hosts a day-long program for educators on Asia's Muslims, conservatively estimated to number more than 750 million people.

The four countries with the largest Muslim populations are in Asia and Asia's Islamic societies have long histories and rich and diverse cultures. Still, Americans know too little about Asia in Islamic history or Islam in Asia's history. This workshop will provide educators with essential background information, compelling case studies, and solid strategies and materials to bring these societies, historical and contemporary, to life in their own classrooms.

In addition to the presentations, a curriculum specialist will introduce the Stanford Program in International and Cross-cultural Education curriculum units Ethnic Minority Groups in China and Islamic Civilization and Art and other materials. Each participating teacher will receive a copy of these units (value $105).

There is no fee to attend this workshop, but a $25 check is required to hold your registration spot.  If you participate, your check will be returned to you at the conclusion of the workshop. If you do not attend the workshop, your check will be deposited.

Make your check payable to “University of Southern California” and send it, along with your name, email address, mailing address and phone number, and your current teaching assignment to:

Kami Holman
USC U.S. - China Institute
3710 S. McClintock Ave., RTH 504
Los Angeles, California 90089-4019

All teachers are encouraged to participate in the workshop.  For more information, please contact Kami Holman at kholman@usc.edu or 213-740-1307.

Workshop Location and Parking
The workshop will be held in Room 201 in the Leventhal School of Accounting building (ACC 201) on the USC campus.  Please click here to download a campus map.  The ACC building is located in section E6 on the campus map.

Parking is available on the USC campus for $7.  Please park in Parking Structure X, which can be accessed via Gate 3 on Figueroa and 35th St.  This is located in section G5 on the campus map.

Presenters

David Atwill (History, Pennsylvania State University)
Islam South of the Clouds

Prof. Atwill earned his Ph.D. at the University of Hawaii. His research has focused on Muslim communities in Southwestern China. Among his works is The Chinese Sultanate: Islam, Ethnicity and the Panthay Rebellion in Southwestern China, 1856-1873 (Stanford University Press, 2006) [click here for a review of the book]. He’s now using the life and work of the famous anti-opium commissioner Lin Zexu to explore 19th century conceptions of China’s borderland communities.

Dru Gladney (Anthroplogy, Pomona College)
Negotiating Islam in China: From Muslim to Minzu

Prof. Gladney obtained his Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from the University of Washington, Seattle, and has been a Fulbright Research Scholar twice to China and Turkey. He has conducted long-term field research in Western China, Central Asia, and Turkey for more than 20 years. A prolific author, his most recent book is Dislocating China: Muslims, Minorities, and Other Subaltern Subjects (University of Chicago Press, 2004).

Peter Gottschalk (Religion, Wesleyan University)
Islamic Diversity in South Asia
Web Demo: A Virtual Village

Prof. Gottschalk took his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. His first book is Beyond Hindu and Muslim: Multiple Identity in Narratives from Village India (Oxford University Press, 2000). He’s long been interested in other means of teaching about South Asia, producing two documentaries, Living Together and Apart: Hindus and Muslims in South Asia (1993) and Everyday Life in Pakistan (1992). He is the co-creator of the website A Virtual Village which he’ll introduce during the workshop.

Gary Mukai (Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education)
Bringing Islam and Asia into Your Classroom  

Mr. Mukai heads SPICE and in 1997 received the Association for Asian Studies Franklin Buchanan Prize for his work developing Asia-focused curriculum units. Under his leadership SPICE has produced over 100 supplementary curriculum units on Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the global environment, and international political economy. Mr. Mukai also trains teachers as part of the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia.

Barbara Pillsbury (International Health & Development Associates)
Being Muslim in China: An Overview

Dr. Pillsbury is a cultural anthropologist specializing in the comparative study of Islam around the world and Muslims in China. She has lived and taught in Egypt and visited or conducted research in Muslim communities from Africa to East Asia. Her publications include "Muslim-Christian Conflict" and "Being Female in a Muslim Minority in China."

Sponsored by the USC U.S. - China Institute, the USC East Asian Studies Center, the UCLA Asia Institute, the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education, the National Center for History in the Schools, and the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia. Funded through grants from the U.S. Department of Education and the Freeman Foundation.