Syllabus

Core Readings: selected chapters from (1) Armstrong, FIELDS OF BLOOD (2015), and,  (2) Kissinger, WORLD ORDER (2015)

April 5: Foundations

A. Participant Experiences and Expectations

B. History of Modern Secularism

Westphalia and the Thirty Years’ War
John Locke and Political Theory
The American Revolution and the 1st Amendment
The French Revolution and Laicite
Civil War within the Enlightenment: The 20th Century

April 12: Modern Secular Models

India, 1947 to Modi
Turkey: Attaturk to Erdogan
The United States

April 19: The Sectarian Challenge

Iran
Saudi Arabia
Israel
Lebanon & Syria

April 26: The Secular –Sectarian Balance

Constitutional Secularism in an Age of Religious Revival
The UN and International Norms