Violences et religions (Coursera)

Offered by University of Geneva,
Violences et religions (Coursera)

La question « violences et religions » est d’actualité, et pas seulement depuis les attentats d’Al-Qaïda ou de Daech. Pour bien la comprendre, ce cours propose de prendre du recul et de l’envisager sous un angle historique et comparatiste. Le domaine concerné étant l’espace euro-méditerranéen, ce sont essentiellement le christianisme et l’islam qui seront traités (quelques séquences sont également consacrées au judaïsme).

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Notre approche commencera avec quelques-uns des textes les plus difficiles de la Bible et du Coran puis vous entraînera dans un survol historique : christianisation de l’Europe et islamisation du monde méditerranéen, avec leurs cortèges de contraintes religieuses ; répression des hérésies, croisades, statut des minorités dans le monde arabo-musulman ; guerres de religion en Europe, puis tentatives d’établir la liberté de conscience ; l’islam moderne, et ses courants réformistes, du wahhabisme à la Nahda (Lumières) ; réflexions et défis d’aujourd’hui, avec le concours de plusieurs personnalités du monde de la philosophie, du droit, de la psychanalyse, de la théologie…
Ce cours fait appel à 25 spécialistes de Suisse, de France, de Belgique, du Canada et du Maroc. Quelques-uns s’expriment en arabe, mais la grande majorité des séquences est en français (les séquences sont intégralement sous-titrées en français et en arabe).
Objectifs d’apprentissage généraux
Au terme du parcours, l’étudiant(e) sera capable de :
• poser le problème des liens entre violence et religion
• mesurer l’intérêt d’une approche historico-critique de la question « violences et religions »
• énoncer, dans leurs grandes lignes, quelques positions de penseurs chrétiens et musulmans sur la violence
• identifier les facteurs, notamment politiques, qui génèrent la violence religieuse
• comprendre comment la liberté de conscience contribue à résoudre le problème de la violence religieuse
• formuler une appréciation personnelle et argumentée sur la violence dans l’histoire du christianisme et de l’islam

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Méthode, principes, origines
Pour commencer, nous vous proposons une approche historico-critique des textes sacrés (Bible et Coran) et des premiers temps du christianisme et de l'islam.

WEEK 2
La chrétienté médiévale
Vous entendrez ici parler de christianisation contrainte, de chasse aux hérétiques, de croisades, mais aussi de non-violence. Avec en outre une leçon sur le judaïsme face à la violence.

WEEK 3
L'islam médiéval et moderne
Notre tâche sera maintenant de bien vous guider : de la période des premiers califes (dits précisément bien guidés) aux conquêtes omeyyades et à la réflexion, en terre d'Islam, sur la guerre et la paix.

WEEK 4
L'Europe moderne (16e-18e siècle)
Nous allons ici vous conduire du 16e siècle, avec son cortège de violences religieuses, à la réflexion théologique et philosophique qui va contribuer à la victoire de la liberté de conscience en Europe.

WEEK 5
L'islam du 18e au 20e siècle
Vous allez comprendre ici ce que sont le salafisme, le wahhabisme ou les Frères musulmans. Il sera aussi question de la Nahda (Renaissance arabe), du conflit israélo-arabe, d'iconoclasme, de Daech et de liberté de conscience dans le monde arabo-musulman.

WEEK 6
Réflexions et défis d'aujourd'hui
Nous allons vous présenter plusieurs intervenants de grande qualité, qui vous apporteront notamment un éclairage philosophique, juridique, humanitaire, religieux, psychologique sur notre thème.

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