Professional Diploma in Islamophobia: Understanding and Countering
Islamic Studies / Islamic Thought and Awareness Building — Novera University
1. Program Overview:
An accredited professional and applied program extending over 3 months (80 hours of approved study load), aimed at enabling researchers, preachers, media professionals, and human-rights and community activists to gain a deep understanding of the phenomenon of Islamophobia, deconstruct its intellectual, historical, media, and political dimensions, and acquire practical tools and strategies to counter it and build an alternative civilizational discourse. The program covers defining the concept of Islamophobia and distinguishing it from scholarly criticism, the historical development of stereotypes about Islam, the ideological and political roots of hostility, mechanisms for producing hostile discourse in traditional media and the digital space, analysis of the psychological and social effects on individuals and institutions, and mastery of legal, media, and dialogue-based methodologies for refuting misconceptions and strengthening positive integration.
2. Key Objectives:
- Conceptual and academic precision: defining the term “Islamophobia,” clarifying its boundaries and epistemological contexts, and accurately distinguishing between objective criticism and hate speech and incitement.
- Exploring historical and ideological roots: tracing the formation of stereotypical perceptions of Islam and Muslims, and understanding the role of Orientalism, political transformations, and fearmongering.
- Analyzing media and digital discourse: acquiring tools of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) on media platforms and social networks to identify and deconstruct techniques of stereotyping and misinformation.
- Monitoring and assessing societal and human-rights impacts: studying the legal, psychological, and security consequences of discrimination against Muslims in Western societies and public institutions.
- Building countering strategies and an alternative discourse: equipping participants with skills in human-rights work, legal advocacy, building civil alliances, and designing effective media campaigns and dialogue initiatives.
3. Target Audience:
- Imams, preachers, public speakers, and officials of Islamic centers and associations in diaspora countries.
- Researchers, academics, and postgraduate students in Islamic Thought, Political Science, Media, and Sociology.
- Lawyers, legal consultants, and activists in human-rights and anti-discrimination organizations.
- Media professionals, journalists, digital content creators, and public-relations and media officers in Islamic institutions.
- Teachers, educators, and supervisors of programs concerned with caring for and protecting younger generations in pluralistic societies.
4. Study Plan and Academic Modules:
|
Module |
Number of Lectures |
Total Hours
|
|
The Concept of Islamophobia: Defining the Term and the Boundaries Separating It from Criticism |
3 |
6 hours |
|
The Emergence of Islamophobia and the Development of Stereotypes Throughout History |
3 |
6 hours |
|
The Intellectual, Cultural, and Political Roots of the Production of Hostility |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Forms of Islamophobia and Mechanisms for Producing Them in Contemporary Reality |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Islamophobia in Media and the Digital Space: Analysis of Discourse and Misinformation |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Psychological, Social, and Human-Rights Effects on Individuals and Institutions |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Legal and Human-Rights Frameworks and Combating Discrimination and Hate Speech |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Countering Strategies, Alliance Building, and Developing the Alternative Discourse |
3 |
6 hours |
|
Total: 8 Study Modules |
24 Lectures |
48 Training Hours
|
5. Organizational Structure and Assessment System:
- Duration and sessions: 3 months (evening period), at a rate of two lectures per week, two hours per lecture = 48 interactive training hours.
- Language of study and delivery method: Arabic | fully remote interactive training (Online).
- Distribution of approved hours (80 hours):
· 48 hours: direct interactive lectures and discussion workshops.
· 14 hours: required readings and specialized literature on the phenomenon of Islamophobia and the critique of Orientalism.
· 6 hours: enrichment readings, international human-rights reports, and survey studies.
· 6 hours: assignments and practical applications (analysis of media materials and monitoring of real cases).
· 6 hours: self-assessment questions, final review, and final completion examination.
- Attendance and assessment requirements: attendance of no less than 75% of the direct interactive lectures, and submission of periodic assignments and homework.
- Certificate and graduation project: the graduate is awarded a Professional Diploma in Islamophobia: Understanding and Countering after passing the electronic examination (25 questions + 5 questions for analyzing practical situations and cases) and preparing an optional applied graduation project (designing a media awareness campaign or preparing a monitoring and analysis paper on Islamophobic discourse with a countering plan).
