Term: Fall 2021
Participating Campuses: Host – University of Michigan | Receiving – University of Maryland
Semester Dates: August 30 to December 20, 2021
Times: Tuesday & Thursday 11:30am-1:00pm
Course Number & Title:
Students at participating campuses can enroll in the following sections for local course credit:
- University of Michigan: HISTART 285, ISLAM 285, MIDEAST 285 “Visual Cultures of Islam”
- University of Maryland: AAST 298B, HIST219E, PERS 298E, RELS 219E, ARTH 389L “Special Topics: Visual Cultures of Islam”
This course explores the visual cultures of Islam around the world from the 7th to the 20th century. Beginning with a discussion of Islam, Muhammad, the Qur’an, and a definition of “Islamic” art, we will discuss the roles and meanings of demarcating divine topography as visible in the Ka‘ba in Mecca and the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. The rapid spread of Islam to the east and west during the 9th– 11th centuries created a new vocabulary for Islamic art and architecture, fusing pre-existing Byzantine and Persian models with Islamic innovations. We will look at mosque and palace complexes in North Africa, southern Spain, as well as in Mesopotamia and Central Asia. During the Crusades, Islam came into close contact with Europe, resulting in fascinating objects and architecture that call into question the simplistic division of “east” and “west.” From the 15th to the 17th century, the three so-called gunpowder states of Anatolia (the Ottomans), Persia (the Safavids), and the Indian Subcontinent (the Mughals) created new concepts of empire, wealth, and administration in the imperial cities of Istanbul, Isfahan, and Agra. Finally, Colonialism and Orientalism will be examined, as well as the emergence of modern Islamic art and the visual culture of the Arab world uprisings of 2011.
Students are able to enroll directly at their home institution for course credit. For more information about this course, including textbook information and instructions on enrolling, please contact [email protected].