A Mosque Visit: A Vital Element of Teaching Muslim Studies in a Christian Institution

The aim of this article is to reflect on the practice of taking Christian students on a mosque visit as a vital part of teaching Muslim studies in a Christian university context. In order to do that I will share my teaching goals and the aims of our class prior to the experience and then briefly narrate the key elements of the visit. Further, I will discuss the students’ perspectives by focusing on a group of twenty-six students that I surveyed in the Spring of 2010 following their visit. Finally, I will evaluate this experience toward articulating some core values for teaching Muslim studies in a Christian university.