COURSE SYLLABUS

RELIGIONS AND PLURALISM

1	Course Title:	RELIGIONS AND PLURALISM
2	Course Code:	İLA4312
3	Type of Course:	Optional
4	Level of Course:	First Cycle
5	Year of Study:	4
6	Semester:	8
7	ECTS Credits Allocated:	8
8	Theoretical (hour/week):	2
9	Practice (hour/week) :	0
10	Laboratory (hour/week) :	0
11	Prerequisites:
12	Recommended optional programme components:	None
13	Language:	Turkish
14	Mode of Delivery:	Face to face
15	Course Coordinator:	Prof. Dr. BÜLENT ŞENAY
16	Course Lecturers:
17	Contactinformation of the Course Coordinator:	Doç. Dr. Bülent ŞENAY bshanay@uludag.edu 2431366-60405
18	Website:
19	Objective of the Course:	The position of Islam vis-à-vis other religious and secular traditions and its place in a pluralistic world has become an important topic of discussion. Questions such as the place of religious freedom, the rights of women and minorities, and the Islamic doctrine of jihad are discussed in many outlets. Some maintain that Islam bears a tradition of tolerance testified by theological, legal and historical realities. Others maintain that there is a fundamental hostility in Islam towards non-Muslims, some have even compared Islam to totalitarian ideologies. The course will examine the panorama of varying Muslim discourses about the self and the other throughout Islamic history. It will underline the significance of understanding, the manner in which Muslims have seen Islam and themselves instead of relying primarily on the evaluations of non-Muslims. The guiding premise is that in order to understand the other, whether it is a system of thought, a religion, or a culture, it is necessary to learn to see the world through the eyes of the other to the extent that one is able. The course will look at the manner in which different schools of Islamic thought and practice have dealt with religious others, specifically Christianity, Judaism, Hindu traditions, Buddhism, and the Chinese religions. This historical and theological foundation will serve as the foundation for examining the manner in which new discourses on religious diversity are being developed in the contemporary period by Muslim intellectuals and scholars and how they relate to global issues of identity, otherness, and pluralism. The evaluation of religious claims to absolute truth, the Jewish, Christian and Islamic prospective of pluralism, the attitudes and practices of believers and Holy Scriptures in the context of pluralism, the discussion of the issue that whether all religions guide to the truth in the context of revelation, ethnic and cultural identity in the determination of religious pluralism, and the relations between interreligious dialogue and mission started after the Second Vatican Council, especially by (Catholic) Christians that started influencing the whole world. By the end of the course, students should be able to understand the multiplicity of ways in which Muslims have theorized religious difference and approached religious others, through specific disciplinary methodologies and interpretations and through historical encounters. Students should also be able to draw their own conclusions about the possibilities of engagement between Muslims and others in the contemporary world.
20	Contribution of the Course to Professional Development	The course provides an understanding and perspective on the framework of coexistence of different religious and ethnic communities in terms of religion and tradition in the context of pluralism and diversity.

Learning Outcomes:

1	To seek an answer to the question of whether religious claims to absolute truth is a problem;
2	To investigate theological, cultural and social causes of religion in the background of ‘inclusive’ and ‘exclusive’ attitudes towards other religions;
3	To examine the religious identity of the Western and Islamic World and their approach to each other from social and historical perspective;
4	It provides to gain knowledge and experience about what religious pluralism is and position of revelation in religion. ;
5	Through the course the view of pluralism of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and the position of pluralism in the social and cultural context will be explained.;
6	The Course informs about the way interreligious dialogue project influenced discourses on religious pluralism. ;

22	Course Content:

Week	Theoretical	Practical
1	What went wrong with the West? : Refutation to Bernard Lewis’s theory
2	Is it Religious pluralism or Pluralism in Religion?
3	Do all religions guide to the same reality?
4	An interpretation on understandings of God
5	Approaches to pluralistic society, religions and ethnicity
6	Principle of Islamic Pluralism: religious freedom
7	Principle of Islamic Pluralism: religious freedom
8	Multiculturalism and Globalization
9	Multiculturalism and Globalization
10	Otherisation and dominant culture
11	Religious Identity` of European Union and Religions in Europe
12	Religious Identity` of European Union and Religions in Europe
13	Quo Vadis Dialogue: “Aman” and “Tevelli” instead of “Redemptoris Missio”
14	Quo Vadis Dialogue: “Aman” and “Tevelli” instead of “Redemptoris Missio”

23	Textbooks, References and/or Other Materials:	1. Şehristani, Milel ve Nihal, (çev.) Mustafa Öz, Litera yayıncılık, İstanbul, 2011. 2. Hanifi Özcan, Maturidi’de Dini Çoğulculuk, M. Ü. İlahiyat Fak. Yayınları, İstanbul, 2013. 3. Mahmut Aydın, “Paradigmanın Yeni Adı: Dinsel C¸ogˆulculuk”, Dinsel C¸oğulculuk ve Mutlaklık İddiaları, Ankara Okulu Yay., Ankara 2005. 4. Philip L. Quinn, “Religious Pluralism”, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Ed. Edward Craig, CD Version 1.0 London 1998. 5. Smart, Ninian, Worldviews, Crosscultural Explorations of Human Beliefs, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York 1983. 6. Smith, Wilfred Cantwell, The Faith of Other Men, Harper Torchbooks, New York 1972. 7. Tillich, Paul, Christianity and The Encounter of The World Religions, Fortress Press, Minneapolis 1994. 8. Recep Kılıç, Dini Çoğulculuk mu, Dinde Çoğulculuk mu?, Dini Araştırmalar Dergisi, Cilt. 7, s. 19, ss. 13-17. 9. Orhan Atalay, Doğu ve Batı Kaynaklarında Birlikte Yaşama, İstanbul, G.Y. Vakfı, 1999, s. 19-71. 10. Bülent Şenay, Avrupa Birliği’nin Dini Kimliği ve Avrupa’da Dinler: Hıristiyanlık, Yahudilik, Hinduizm, Budizm ve İslam, Uludağ Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, Cilt:11, s. 1, 2002, ss. 121-166.
24	Assesment

TERM LEARNING ACTIVITIES	NUMBER	PERCENT
Midterm Exam	1	40
Quiz	0	0
Homeworks, Performances	0	0
Final Exam	1	60
Total	2	100
Contribution of Term (Year) Learning Activities to Success Grade		40
Contribution of Final Exam to Success Grade		60
Total		100
Measurement and Evaluation Techniques Used in the Course	Written exam
Information

ECTS / WORK LOAD TABLE

Activites	NUMBER	TIME [Hour]	Total WorkLoad [Hour]
Theoretical	14	2	28
Practicals/Labs	0	0	0
Self Study and Preparation	14	14	196
Homeworks, Performances	0	0	0
Projects	0	0	0
Field Studies	0	0	0
Midtermexams	1	6	6
Others	0	0	0
Final Exams	1	6	6
Total WorkLoad			236
Total workload/ 30 hr			7,87
ECTS Credit of the Course			8

CONTRIBUTION OF LEARNING OUTCOMES TO PROGRAMME QUALIFICATIONS

LO: Learning Objectives

PQ: Program Qualifications

Contribution Level:

1 Very Low

2 Low

3 Medium

4 High

5 Very High