One Classroom, Different Perspectives: Promoting Mutual Understanding between “Secular” and “Religious” Students of Islamic Studies in Russia and the United States

The article discusses the results from several co-taught courses in Islamic studies shared as a virtual exchange between the University of Michigan (U-M), USA, and Saint Petersburg State University (SPbU), Russian Federation. These courses were designed and taught to expand the range of perspectives to which students were exposed and allow them to learn how their study subject is conceptualized and studied by their peers in the partner country. The SPbU student cohort included graduates of Islamic religious colleges from different regions of the Russian Federation who shared the classroom with “secular” university students specializing in Islamic studies. The U-M cohort included students of various religious, ethnic, and academic backgrounds. In addition to weekly online meetings, the international teams met virtually outside class to prepare questions for weekly synchronous discussions and to work on a group presentation to be delivered at the end of the semester.