Riding the Winds of Change:
Khamseen and Islamic Art History Online
Christiane Gruber
Synopsis:
“Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online” was launched in Fall 2020. The project is, in essence, a creative response to the pedagogical constraints caused the coronavirus pandemic. As professors and students struggled to pivot to remote teaching and learning, it became clear that the time had come for scholars to fully embrace the digital turn and to unite as an international community in order to produce reliable multimedia content for inclusion in university courses. Since then, colleagues have provided Khamseen with short presentations and glossary term definitions on subjects falling within their fields of expertise. Along the way, we have learned much about the possibilities of the digital humanities and publicly engaged scholarship, the most important of which pertain to questions of scholarly canonicity, diversity, and accessibility. These issues shuttle back and forth between in-person and online instruction, both within and well beyond our university settings.
Citation:
Christiane Gruber, “Riding the Winds of Change: Khamseen and Islamic Art History Online,” Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online, 14 April 2022.
Christiane Gruber is Professor of Islamic Art and Former Chair in the History of Art Department at the University of Michigan as well as Founding Director of Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online. Her scholarly work (available here) explores medieval to contemporary Islamic art, including figural representation, depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, manuscripts and book arts, architecture, and modern visual and material cultures. Her two most recent publications include The Praiseworthy One: The Prophet Muhammad in Islamic Texts and Images and The Image Debate: Figural Representation in Islam and Across the World, and her public-facing essays have appeared in Newsweek, The Conversation, New Lines, Jadaliyya, and Prospect Magazine, among others. Her current research projects include eco-Islamic art and architecture as well as the visual culture of the Nation of Islam.