Charles Buell
Monday 2:30 – 4:30 PM
January 9, 16 and 23, 2006
D.O.C. House
This short course will use Karen Armstrong's The Battle for God to focus on the bases of current worldwide religious fundamentalism and how these bases affected the creation of the Islamic Republic of Iran 1979. We will use the first class to explore the crisis of modernization in the Islamic world, then move on to how that played out in Iran after World War II, with some background about that country, and finally discuss current issues of fundamentalism in Iran and elsewhere. The assigned readings will follow what is covered in class. Participants are strongly encouraged to bring out their own experiences with fundamentalism, whether in the Middle East or elsewhere.
CHARLES BUELL has taught previous ILEAD courses on "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" and "Democracy in America." He has a doctorate in American History from New York University, and has taught at Lebanon College and the College for Lifelong Learning. After retirement, he traveled to Iran in 2003 with the local group, Building Bridges: Middle East-U.S., and has followed Iranian events closely since that time.
