WFU Summer Indonesia and the Netherlands: Ramadan Observed

Courses: REL 390 (3hrs) Dates: Summer Session II Accommodations: Hotels and student housing Cost: Program Fee (estimated) - TBA Tuition (3 hrs) - $2,640 Airfare (estimated) - $2,500 Personal Expenses (estimated) - TBA Estimated Total Program Cost - TBA Scholarships: Available through the CIS
During this course we will study, observe and participate in events surrounding the Islamic fasting of Ramadan as this special month is celebrated in Indonesia and in the Netherlands. Indonesia is the largest Muslim majority country in the world. Ramadan is part of daily culture and religious life and expressed through special preaching and prayer events, festivals, celebrations and forms of popular culture such as publications and movies. Muslims in the Netherlands are a minority. They have to adapt to the surrounding society when fasting and find ways to express their religious identity in a multi-cultural environment. We will compare how Muslims in the two countries experience this special month of the Islamic year and how the non-Muslim environment engages with them during this time. We will stay three weeks in Yogyakarta, on the island of Java and two weeks in Amsterdam. During our studies we will join Indonesian and Dutch students to discuss topics of inclusion and exclusion, belonging to a majority or minority religious community, and the rituals and practices surrounding Ramadan. In Yogyakarta we will make various excursions, for example to the Sultans palace and mosque, the Buddhist shrine of Borobudur and the Hindu Prambanan. In Amsterdam we will visit mosques, schools, Muslim media as well as other institutions that focus on minority questions in the Netherlands such as the Jewish Museum and the Anne Frank House.

To learn more, contact: Dr. Nelly van Doorn-Harder, Professor of Religion Phone: (336) 758 3945 E-mail: vandoopa@wfu.edu

To apply: Go to studyabroad.wfu.edu and select Find a Program Application Deadline: February 15, 2014

Center for International Studies

116 Reynolda Hall studyabroad.wfu.edu 336-758-5938