AMES-408S
GEOPOLITICS OF ISLAMOPHOBIA
Offered Fall 2026
Term
Overview
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that the readings, films, or examples carry real weight. Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.
DepartmentAMES
Terms offeredFall
Typical enrollment6–13
Semesters of data3
4.1
Hrs / week
22
Responses
32
Enrollment
69%
Response Rate
Evaluation Scores
Overall quality
Teaching, content, and experience combined.
4.8
Intellectually stimulating
Challenges students to think deeply.
4.8
Instructor effectiveness
Explains concepts and facilitates learning.
4.9
Difficulty
Higher means harder.
3.5
Feedback Analysis
Feedback Analysishigh
Analysis based on student evaluations
Based on 46 comments across 3 sections
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that the readings, films, or examples carry real weight. Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.
Student Reports
How hard is the A?
A is doable but not automatic
The signal here is more do-the-work-and-you-should-be-fine than easy-A chatter. Students do not describe the A as automatic, but the evidence also does not paint grading as punishing.
Homework Load
Moderate homework load
Homework load looks moderate. The recurring signal is steady weekly work, but not a course that turns every assignment into a grind.
Lecture Load
Lighter lecture burden
Student comments describe this as more discussion-, seminar-, or workshop-driven than lecture-dependent. The lecture burden itself does not sound like the main source of friction.
Strengths
• Readings, films, or outside materials come up repeatedly as a real strength rather than filler.
• Discussion is a clear strength; students repeatedly describe the class conversation as engaging and useful.
• Students repeatedly say the course teaches something concrete, whether that is content mastery, research skill, or a strong foundation.
Tradeoffs
• There is no single dominant complaint theme, but the feedback is not uniformly glowing either.
Best fit for
Best for students who will engage with the materials instead of skimming everything.
Watch out for
• A large share of the evidence comes from one instructor's version of the course, so this may not generalize cleanly.
Student Responses
(1) Analyzing Orientalism as an epistemology and studying its influence across sociology, historiography, geopolitics etc. (2) Specific historical contexts surrounding the prosecution of Muslim populations such as in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Xinjiang (3) Forming comprehensive historiographical and literary arguments (and the synthesis between the two)
Fall 2025 · Goknar, Erdag
I learned about epistemology and ontology, learned a lot of history that I only had a vague understanding of prior to the course, and read/discussed really interesting texts.
Fall 2025 · Goknar, Erdag
1. Writing academic papers without bias or polemics 2. Critically analyzing difficult texts 3. Discussing and defunding opinions
Fall 2025 · Goknar, Erdag
Greatly strengthened my ability to analyze advanced theoretical texts and engage with historical literature.
Fall 2025 · Goknar, Erdag
Analytical thinking, critical thinking, writing. Learned about Ottoman Empire and its history and its Islamaphobic discursive nature. learned to think through epistemology and ontology. learned about the Bosnian genocide and post-9/11 Islamophobia 9/11.
Fall 2025 · Goknar, Erdag
Rating History
Rating history
Error bars show \u00B11 std dev
| Term | Instructor | Overall | Difficulty | Hrs/wk | Enrolled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2025 | Goknar, Erdag 4.4Rate My ProfessorsQuality4.4Difficulty3.5Would retake75%Based on 22 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 5.0 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 6 |
| Fall 2024 | Goknar, Erdag 4.4Rate My ProfessorsQuality4.4Difficulty3.5Would retake75%Based on 22 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | — | — | 4.0 | 13 |
| Fall 2023 | Goknar, Erdag 4.4Rate My ProfessorsQuality4.4Difficulty3.5Would retake75%Based on 22 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 4.6 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 13 |
Instructor
Goknar, ErdagAMES
Also teaches
AMES-186 TURKS AND EUROPE4.7AMES-236S OTTOMAN EMPIRE TO MIDDLE EAST4.5AMES-296S TURKISH CULTURAL HISTORYAMES-296S TURKISH HISTORY4.2