Class Schedules

This course charts the formation of Islam and the expansion of Muslim peoples, from the life of the Prophet Muhammad to the Mongol conquest of Baghdad. It will examine Muslim institutions, beliefs, and ritual practices in their historical contexts. In addition to the basics of Muslim practice and belief, the class will introduce students to mystic traditions (Sufism), Islamicate statecraft, and intellectual/legal traditions as well as cultural trends including art, architecture, and literature.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course studies the interaction of Jewish, Christian, and pagan cultures, and the protracted struggle for self-definition and multi-cultural exchange this encounter provoked. The course draws attention to how the other and cultural and religious difference are construed, resisted, and apprehended. Readings include Acts, Philo, Revelation, I Clement, pagan charges against Christianity, Adversus Ioudaios writers, the Goyim in the Mishna, and apologetic literature.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course studies the interaction of Jewish, Christian, and pagan cultures, and the protracted struggle for self-definition and multi-cultural exchange this encounter provoked. The course draws attention to how the other and cultural and religious difference are construed, resisted, and apprehended. Readings include Acts, Philo, Revelation, I Clement, pagan charges against Christianity, Adversus Ioudaios writers, the Goyim in the Mishna, and apologetic literature.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course examines the Qur'an and hadith, and other authoritative texts that ground Islamic jurisprudence, and explores the diverse ways in which Muslims have understood and interpreted these teachings in locations across the world (i.e. Indonesia, the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and the United States) and at various points in history.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism OR U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course examines the Qur'an and hadith, and other authoritative texts that ground Islamic jurisprudence, and explores the diverse ways in which Muslims have understood and interpreted these teachings in locations across the world (i.e. Indonesia, the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and the United States) and at various points in history.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism OR U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course will explore the art and architecture of the Islamic world from the time of the Prophet Mohammed to the 18th century. The lectures and class discussions will focus on culturally specific concepts of design and aesthetics in the vast geography from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Subcontinent, and analyze a variety of genres including architecture, glass, wood and metal working, painting, calligraphy and ceramics in their political and socio-economic contexts. Within these chronological, geographical and typological frameworks, this course will focus on special themes such as patronage, art and politics, figural representation, religious vs. secular art, and the impact of pre-Islamic Near Eastern heritage and Christianity on the development of Islamic forms and styles.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course charts the formation of Islam and the expansion of Muslim peoples, from the life of the Prophet Muhammad to the Mongol conquest of Baghdad. It will examine Muslim institutions, beliefs, and ritual practices in their historical contexts. In addition to the basics of Muslim practice and belief, the class will introduce students to mystic traditions (Sufism), Islamicate statecraft, and intellectual/legal traditions as well as cultural trends including art, architecture, and literature.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Humanities

Course Materials

This course explores the making and function of art and architecture in ancient Egypt along with its socio-economic and political context from pre-dynastic times (ca. 5300 - 3000 BCE) to the Roman era (30 BCE - 391 CE). The lectures and class discussions will focus on concepts of design, representation and aesthetics in Egypt, and explore the uses of art objects and monuments in politics, religion, private and state cults, and burial practices. Addressing topics such as pharaonic ideology, imperialism, gender, and afterlife, this course will help students comprehend the fundamental place of art and visual culture in the creation and sustenance of one of the oldest civilizations in the world.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials