GEO 101 World Human Geography
Discussions Spring 2011
Discussion 7: The Geography of Suburban Religion

Reading to Be Done Before This Discussion:

Naylor, Simon, and James R. Ryan. 2002. The mosque in the suburbs: negotiating religion and ethnicity in South London. Social & Cultural Geography 3, no. 1 (3): 39-59.  

Things to Bring to Discussion: Your own notes on the article and/or a print out.
Due in Discussion THIS Week: Answers to the questions below due at the beginning of class.
Due in Discussion NEXT Week: Answers to questions as usual, Essay 2
Concepts/Ideas/Places: religion, Islam, siting of facilities, identity, scale, landscape, sacred space

Essay 2 Assignment

Essay 2 Assignment: For your second essay you need to read the article and think about the geographical implications of the history of London's first mosque.  Consider the authors' arguments about the conflict over the mosque and identify arguments both for and against the siting of the mosque. Then you should review the guidelines for Writing an A essay and the assignment and advice below.

Your essay should be 2-3 pages and 5 paragraphs and should address the following scenario and question:

You have been hired as a planning consultant for a group seeking to build a mosque in a small town in the United States.  The town has a growing Muslim population, but the congregation lacks a local place of worship.  A nearby mosque was vandalized a few years earlier and racist slogans were spray painted on its doors. At the same time the community's clergy of all faiths, public officials, and citizens have also expressed strong support for religious diversity and tolerance, going so far as to have rallies in the town square in support of diversity. The group seeks to understand what kinds of opposition and support they might experience in their quest to build the mosque so that they can adequately prepare for the hearings before the planning board as well as any public controversy that might arise.  As a planning consultant you are aware, of course, that the planning board cannot legally refuse permission to build based upon issues of religion or belief. Rather the function of the planning board is to ensure compatibility of land use with surrounding uses and to ensure that the plans mitigate any adverse effects on neighbors (increased traffic volume, drainage issues, etc.).  Nonetheless you and your clients recognize that issues of religious difference and belief may emerge as part of the broader public debate. Using primarily what you have learned from the article (cite your evidence and examples), provide the group with a report that identifies the most important, issues that they are likely to encounter.  That is,

What arguments and strategies are supporters and opponents of the proposed mosque most likely to deploy in the public discussion over the plan to build the mosque? 

You only have a short time before the proposal goes before the planning board and the public discussion starts so you can only present two to three pages of comments in a rather short essay that focuses upon the absolutely essential issues (say three of them). You have learned much from the article you read back when you took Geo101 and plan to use it (and cite it please) to help make your case to the board.

For this essay you should identify at least three potential arguments and/or strategies that opponents and supporters might deploy in the public discussion.  Please feel free to write as if you are actually writing a planning consultant's report.  Feel free to use your imagination to creatively fill in details not provided here. Above all use the article to provide support and evidence (even as using the article may to some degree reveal this to be more of an exercise in writing rather than a faithfully written response to the scenario.)  Be sure to cite ideas from the article as well as any quotations you use as illustrated in the Guide to Citing Sources.

• Your essay must be typed (or word-processed), double spaced, in 12 pt font, stapled, and with 1 inch margins all around.  It should be between two and three pages in length.  Use a Times Roman Font or other similar serif font.  You must cite any direct quotes AND paraphrased ideas from the article or other sources as directed in Citing Sources in GEO 101.  Papers that do not properly cite sources will lose points. Essays must include:
  
  • an introductory paragraph that culminates in a clear thesis statement;
  • at least three supporting paragraphs that develop the points in the thesis statement;
  • a concise concluding paragraph that sums up your argument.
• For this essay you will be given two grades, one for content and argument, the other for format, spelling, punctuation, syntax, etc. Your total grade will be the total points from these two grades. For more details see “Writing an ‘A’ Essay” and “Grading Guide for Short Essays”.

Additional Tips for Writing this Essay

See the additional tips from the last essay.

and see  “Writing an ‘A’ Essay”  Do not hand in your first draft. Read your paper over and evaluate it using the Grading Guide for Short Essays. If you have trouble with any aspect of the paper do not hesitate to get help from your professor or from the Writing Center.

Context: In lecture and in your textbook readings for this week we explore a variety of major world religions including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism among many others.  We examine the distribution of religions across the world as well as how those distributions came to be through diffusion.  We also explore a number of sacred places and religious conflicts.  

To prepare for Discussion: In today's discussion we explore the history and geography of conflict over one particular sacred space in the suburbs of London.  The first mosque built in London was greeted with curiosity and regarded as an "exotic fantasy" despite efforts by the architect to adapt traditional building styles to its suburban London location.  In contrast expansion plans for the mosque were vigorously opposed  in the 1990s and the expansion plans were ultimately dropped. Despite its long history in the neighborhood opponents argued that the mosque was "out of place." What explains this change in attitudes towards the mosque?   This week's article seeks to answer that question and in doing so may provide insight into contemporary conflicts over sacred space that we see in today's headlines.  As you read think about what insights you might gain from learning about this historical geography for understanding conflicts over today's sacred spaces.   

Questions to be Answered and Turned in at the Beginning of Class
Name:
Honor Code:  

1.  According to the authors, what three factors contribute to frequent conflicts over the establishment of non-Christian places of worship in England and Wales?

2.  How was the traditional architectural form of the mosque adapted to fit into its suburban London location?

3.  What arguments did opponents to the expansion of the mosque use to block its expansion?

4.  What arguments did proponents of the mosque expansion use to support their case?

5.  What is one question about the reading that you would like to raise during discussion?