Anthropology 398. Experimental Courses
Globalization, Social Media and the Islamic World
Many Westerners saw the impact of Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media in the Islamic world during the Arab Spring for the first time. Social media proved vital in the mobilization and democratization protests and efforts of much of North Africa and the Middle East in the Arab Spring. In many ways, the Arab Spring was the result of recent technological and socioeconomic developments throughout the Islamic world, more than it signaled the beginning of a new era. In this course we look at ethnographies of Indonesia, the Levant, and North Africa in this development. We will examine and explore the ways in which the contemporary lives of Muslims are impacted by globalization and social media. From the emergence of Islamic self-help preachers to Islamic capitalism, and from television soap operas to Starbucks, globalization and social media are influencing the beliefs and practices of Muslims today. They are deeply impacting their cultural, social, political, economic, and religious identities.
