Offered:

as a video-only course

This course was last offered in May-July 2023 and is currently offered as live video recordings from the class sessions.

Date & Time:

You can sign up and watch the video sessions from this course whenever you like as it is available immediately upon registering.

Description:

This ten-week course, part of our World Religions series, provides a detailed introduction to the history, texts, beliefs and practices of the Islamic faith.

Individual sessions focus on: • Course Introduction • Essential History: Life of the Prophet • Essential History: Succession • Sects & Denominations • Sacred Texts • Beliefs and Practices

Course curriculum

    1. EarthDiverse Course Information (updated 2026T3)

    2. EarthDiverse Zoom Instructions

    3. Islamic History Timeline - Global Context PDF

    1. 2023 T2.1 Islam - Course Introduction PDF

    2. 20230501 T2.1 RD301 Understanding Islam video

    1. 20230508 T2.2 Islam - Al-Jahilliya & Life of the Prophet 1 PDF

    2. 20230508 T2.3 RD302 Islam video

    1. 20230515 T2.3 Islam - Life of the Prophet 2 PDF

    2. 20230515 T2.3 RD302 Islam video

    1. 20230529 T2.4 Islam-Life of the Prophet 3 & Succession 1 PDF

    2. 20230529 T2.4 RD302 Islam video

    1. 20230605 T2.5 Islam - Succession 2 & Sects & Denominations 1 PDF

    2. 20230605 T2.5 RD302 Islam video

Additional course info:

  • PDF content from class presentations are available for download
  • Watch then course videos whenever you want!
  • course material is always available!

Meet our Instructor

Executive Director, Senior Lecturer Dr Todd Nachowitz, PhD

Dr Todd Nachowitz, PhD, is the Founder and Executive Director of EarthDiverse. Todd is a Hamilton-based lecturer, anthropologist, environmentalist and diversity educator. He previously taught in Religious Studies at the University of Waikato, teaching courses on Comparative Religion and Religious Fundamentalism & Extremism. Todd holds a Masters Degree in Development Anthropology from Syracuse University in upstate New York (1991) and a PhD from the University of Waikato (2015) in Political Science and Public Policy where he completed his thesis on diversity governance and the Indian diaspora in New Zealand.

Prior to settling in New Zealand in 1995, Todd lived and worked in the United States, India, Pakistan and Nepal. He spent 11 years in South Asia as the Academic Director for university study-abroad programmes in Varanasi, India (for the University of Wisconsin-Madison); Lahore, Pakistan (for the University of California-Berkeley); and Kathmandu, Nepal (for School for International Training, based in Brattleboro, Vermont, USA) focusing on language, culture and religion.

Todd speaks Hindi and Urdu, and is a specialist in comparative world religions and the history, religions, languages and cultures of South Asia. He also currently teaches our Hindi and Urdu language courses and the Religious Diversity courses at EarthDiverse.

Pricing options:

All prices in New Zealand dollars and includes GST. Unwaged includes students, seniors and retirees.

Materials:

All materials are included in the course fees. These are developed by our instructors and distributed as PDF files on the course webpage.

• Course materials are provided to all registered students as digital materials made available to you on the course webpage for download (accessible after registration). There is no need to purchase any additional textbooks for this course, although you may choose to do so to supplement your learning.

Prerequisites:

A keen desire to learn about the history and development of Islam and about Muslim belief and Practices.

• There are no prerequisites for this course

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