France's secular political culture, Catholic heritage, and tumultuous relationship with Islam have had a significant impact on 21st-century interpretations, perceptions, and politicisations of religious education in French society. Since religious education is relegated to the French private school system, it is decentralised, complex, and vastly…

Historians have long presented France's "civilizing mission" within its colonies in secular terms ignoring women's presence as both actors and subjects. This is particularly true in Algeria where the colonial government's explicitly prohibited proselytism. This article emphasizes women's roles pursuing both secular and religious goals in…

The "foreign languages" considered in this paper are the non-European contemporary tongues whose study was encouraged by the Crusades and related projects for recovering the Holy Land from the Muslims, Arabic, Hebrew and Syriac (Chaldaic), of which Arabic held pride of place. No-one was more significant in advancing the study and…

The attacks of September 11th, followed by U.S. military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq, have brought greater attention to the simmering conflict between Islam and the West--a conflict most brutally played out historically during the Crusades. The series of holy wars for control of Jerusalem and the Holy Land stretched over centuries--from 1096…

The recent ban of "conspicuous" religious symbols in French state schools has received international attention, especially the uncertainty of whether Muslims will comply with the ban. The issue, however, raises a number of philosophical dilemmas regarding toleration in a liberal democracy, the notion of a "neutral" public space…

The practice of veiling has made Muslim women subject to dual oppressions--racism and Islamophobia--in society at large and patriarchal oppression and sexism from within their communities. Based on a narrative analysis of the politics of veiling in schools and society, the voices of young Muslim women attending a Canadian Islamic school speak to…

The hijab, the veil worn by Muslim women, can be a touchstone issue to give students an entry into the complex nature of Islam. It allows students to discover for themselves how symbol is used as a political, social, and cultural expression of Islam by different groups, both inside and outside the religion. By starting with their own experiences…

Educators and policymakers who share the goal of equal opportunity in schools often hold differing notions of what entails a just school in multicultural America. Some emphasize the importance of integration and uniform treatment for all, while others point to the benefits of honoring cultural diversity in ways that make minority students feel at…