The rise of religious tensions on an international level (the conflict between the “West” against “Islam” for example) and on the national level the immigration of Muslims to Europe, the debate over the headscarf in France and Turkey, the question of religious education in Spain and Germany) spurred the return of the question: what is the relationship between religious traditions and institutions of the modern state.  The course will examine this question through its theoretical and comparative aspects and will analyze the different approaches towards secularism. The course will analyze the arrangements which separate or connect religion and state in democracies that are considered secular, including the United States, France, India and England. The  course will also examine states in which arrangements of religion and state conflict with principles of democracy, including Turkey, Indonesia and Israel.