ABSTRACT
A student-centered, critical approach acknowledges the constructed nature of knowledge and employs perspective transformation for student learning. Bringing together the “rethinking of Islamic Studies” of Carl Ernst and Richard Martin and the “reformation of Islamic Studies” of Aaron Hughes, the author, himself a Muslim, relies on an ethos of critical questioning in the study of Islam, Muslims, gender, and sexuality. This approach is meant to prompt student awareness of the genealogy of questions, multimedia forms of communication, and sources of authority. Presented are classroom strategies drawn from the author’s experience teaching “Islam and Gender: Constructions of Masculinities, Femininities, and the Body” in a secular, public university environment. The author’s critical teaching method is meant to broaden perspectives through analysis of the depths of Islamic pluralism and diversity, making it almost impossible to land firmly on the side of Islamophobia.
