Course Announcement: Contemporary Muslim Societies and Organizations
In a continuing partnership between Maqasid Institute (MI) and International Peace College of South Africa (IPSA), comes this new online course that aims to explore the diversity of Muslim societies and ideological currents around the world.
Dr. Yahya Baptiste Brodard, Assistant Professor and Research Associate at MI, is the instructor of this 5-week course that commences on May 24th and surveys main Islamic movements and tendencies, while addressing issues related to the evolution of Islamic thought in today’s Muslim societies, using as a guideline the primary Islamic texts to discuss examples of Muslim activism in the fields of Da’awah and aid to respond to current challenges.
Dr. Baptiste Brodard is a Senior Fellow at the Maqasid Institute. He holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He prepared an interdisciplinary thesis entitled “Islamic social work in Switzerland” which combines sociology, religious studies, and theology. Previously, he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in political science in Paris (France) and a Master’s in social sciences in Fribourg (Switzerland) and worked in the fields of development, education, counseling, and social work. He was particularly involved in social work in prison and in humanitarian aid. In parallel, he has traveled to about 50 countries in order to meet various Muslim communities and to study contemporary Islamic movements. His interest is focused on social problems and social work, grassroots humanitarian aid, contemporary Islamic movements in non-Muslim countries, faith-based social activism, and “da’wah” in Europe and Latin America. He wrote several articles on subjects related to Muslim communities in the West and their contribution to society in the field of social work.