COURSE DESCRIPTION. Islamic art is distinguished by its sophisticated design, exquisite craft, and world-wide adaptability. This course will survey the arts and architecture of the traditional Islamic world, spanning Asia and North Africa, from the time of Muhammad to the present day. While the religious art and architecture reflect the tenets of Islam, which we will study, the luxury arts reflect the brilliant world of courts and kings. Through classwork, videos, primary-source reading and field experiences, we will explore the various regional traditions of this vast world, seeking to understand how the art emerged from these religious and cultural contexts. We will also consider the trade and cultural relations between Europe and the Islamic world that have influenced the visual arts of each. This course is designed for all regardless of background, though students of history, anthropology and religion may find it especially engaging. It may appeal particularly to those art students who are eager to explore visual ideas beyond the western tradition. No previous course work or experience is necessary.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

• To introduce students to the world of Islam through its visual arts and architecture, and to introduce them to the religious and intellectual ideas that underlie them.
• To explore regional differences within this broad world, considering key aspects of history, culture and geography in each.
• To introduce students to traditional principles of design and techniques of production in a number of media, such as calligraphy, textile and metalwork, not normally considered in courses on Western art.
• To place the great monuments and collections that we visit during field experiences into their historical and cultural contexts.
• To provide an opportunity to practice thinking, reading, and writing critically about art and history.

METHODS OF EVALUATION: (slightly revised):

• Class participation: 10%
• Fieldwork assignments: 30%
• Research paper 15 %
• Tests 1 and 2, 15% each 30%
• Final exam 15 %

REQUIRED TEXTS:

• Bloom, Jonathan, and Sheila Blair, Islamic Arts. Phaidon, 1997.
• Hitti, Philip K. Islam and the West: A Historical Cultural Reader. Krieger Anvil Ser.--1979
• A photocopied course packet

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND READING ASSIGNMENTS

B1: Introduction to Islam
Blair and Bloom: "Introduction" and "Rise of Islam," pp. 5-20.
Course packet: Esposito, "Muhammad and the Quran," from Islam, The Straight Path, 3-36.

B2: Shape of the early Islamic world
Hitti: Part I
Course packet: Robt. Irwin, "The Historical Background," from Islamic Art in Context, 17-38. 

B3: Qur'an and Calligraphy as art
Blair and Bloom: 2: "Pens and Parchment: The Koran and Early Writing."
Film: "Islamic Art"

B4: Architecture and the Mosque:
Blair and Bloom: 1: Mosques, Mansions and Mosaics." 

B5: Test in class

 ARRIVAL IN KOBE, JAPAN

B6: Islam in China
Course packet: Robt. Irwin, "China," from Islamic Art in Context, 230-238.

 ARRIVAL IN HONG KONG

B7: Textiles, crafts and gender roles
Blair and Bloom: 3: "The Draped Universe," 4: "Pots, Pans and Pitchers," and 7: "Warps, Wefts and Pile".

 ARRIVAL IN HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM

B8: Mosques of Southeast Asia
Course packet: O'Neill, "South-East Asia," from The Mosque, 225-240.

B9: Islam and trade routes in South Asia
Blair and Bloom: Finish Part 1 on early Islam, skim Part II for South Asia.
Hitti: Readings #13 and #14.

 ARRIVAL IN PENANG, MALAYSIA

B10: Mughal India: Taj Mahal and all that
Blair and Bloom, Part III:, Chapters 9-12 as they pertain to India.
On reserve: Pal, "Ruler of the World," from Romance of the Taj Mahal, 14-52.

 ARRIVAL IN CHENNAI, INDIA

B11: India aftermath: discussion and research topics

B12: The Silk Road overland
Blair and Bloom: Read Parts II and III as they pertain to Seljuk, Mongol., Timurid and Safavid Iran.

B13: Iranian art
Reading packet: Picard, Tales of Ancient Persia, 131-143.
Hitti: Readings #10-14, #17-19. 

B14: Test on Islamic art in Asia

B15: Islamic Egypt: Fatimid and Mamluk Cairo
Reading packet: Hitti, "Cairo, The Dissident Capital" from The Capital Cities of Arab Islam
Blair and Bloom: Look over Part II for Tulunid, Fatimid and Mamluk art.

ARRIVAL AT PORT SUEZ, EGYPT

B16: Ottoman art and architecture
Blair and Bloom: Study Ottoman monuments in Chapters 9-12.
Reading packet: Denny, "Reflections of Paradise," from Images of Paradise in Islamic Art, 33-43.

 ARRIVAL IN ISTANBUL, TURKEY

B17: Discussion: Ottoman Art
Film: "Suleyman the Magnificent"

ARRIVAL IN DUBROVNIK, CROATIA

B18: Europe and Islam in the Medieval Mediterranean
Hitti: pp. 48-78, and Readings #4-8, #20-24, #27-28.
Blair and Bloom: Look over art of medieval Sicily.

ARRIVAL IN CIVITAVECCHIA, ITALY

B19: Morocco and Spain: The Maghrib and Al-Andalus
Blair and Bloom: Look over Part II on Spain and the Maghrib.
Hitti: Readings #16 and #25.

 ARRIVAL IN CASABLANCA, MOROCCO

B20: Islam in Subsaharan Africa
Film: "Africa: Empires of Gold"

B21: Orientalism: Europe and Islam in the age of empire
Hitti: pp. 78-94.

B22: Islam in the modern world: preserving the cultural heritage
On reserve: Look through The Mosque.
Blair and Bloom: "Epilogue."

Final exam

FIELD COMPONENT: Students will visit monuments of Islamic architecture, collections of Islamic art, ethnographic museums, significant historic sites, and neighborhoods of working artisans during port calls. Students will be given specific field assignments in port that will involve looking, recording, and analysis in comparison to material in the assigned readings. Students are required to participate in a minimum of three practica, from the list below or devised with the consent of the instructor. Since this is an art and architecture course, a major feature of the course will be your own observations of buildings and art in the places we visit. At least two of the practica must be visits to mosques, either independently or with a group. At least one of the practica must be a visit to a museum collection of Islamic art in one of the cities you visit. Three of the practica will be written up for 30% of the course grade. A fourth may be part of your research project. Individualized plans for field work may be proposed and substituted for these, upon my approval.

• Japan: Analyzing premodern structures of wood and masonry; Silk Road art in Buddhist temple collections. 
• China: Walking tour of Hong Kong (FDP). Kowloon Mosque. Hui neighborhoods and cultural monuments, esp. Beijing, Niu Jie Mosque and neighborhood.
• Vietnam: Central Saigon Mosque.
• Malaysia: Kapitan Kling Mosque, and State Mosque, Penang; market districts. Modern architecture in Kuala Lumpur. Mosques and Islamic museums in Malacca and Singapore.
• India: Chennai: Wallajah Mosque (a.k.a. Big Mosque); Mughal and Rajput art in the National Art Gallery, palace architecture. North India: Taj Mahal and the other Mughal monuments.
• Egypt: Cairo: the Fatimid city center; the great mosques; the Khan al-Khalili markets; the Islamic Museum; historic mansions including the Gayer-Anderson House.
• Turkey: Istanbul: Any of the great mosques, such as the Suleymaniye; Topkapi Palace; Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts in the Ibrahim Pasha Palace; walking tour of the market neighborhoods (FDP). Other cities: the main mosques, central bazaars, ethnographic museums, or intact pre-modern neighborhoods.
• Croatia: Ottoman buildings; pre-modern neighborhoods.
• Italy: Rome: Luxury arts in the National Museum, Palazzo Venezia. Mosque in Rome. Florence: Islamic art in the Bargello Museum. Venice: Trading fondachi, luxury arts.
• Morocco: Mosques, markets, museums, and pre-modern neighborhoods in any of the cities we visit; especially Fez and Marrakesh.

TENTATIVE RESERVE LIBRARY LIST: Some or all of these books, or similar titles, will be put on reserve for this course. The reserve list will be finalized early in the course. 

• George Michell, Architecture of the Islamic World. Thames & Hudson 1984
• R. Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar, Art & Architecture of Islam, 650-1250.Yale Pelican History of Art,1992.
• S. Blair & J. Bloom, Art & Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800. Yale Pelican History of Art, 1994.
• Gibb & Kramers, eds. Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam. Cornell/Brill ,1953/1974.
• Holod & Rastorfer, eds., Architecture & Community: Building in the IslamicWorld Today. Aga Khan Award for Architecture, Aperture, 1983.
• M.M Pickthall, The Meaning of theGlorious Koran. New American/Mentor.
• Francis Robinson, Atlas of the Islamic World since 1500. Facts on File, 1982.
• Esin Atil , Turkish Art. Abrams 1980.
• Ebba Koch, Mughal Architecture. Prestel,1991.
• Jerrilynn Dodds, ed. Al-Andalus: The Art of Islamic Spain. Abrams/Met.Mus.,1992.
• Oleg Grabar, The Shape of the Holy: Early Islamic Jerusalem. Princeton,1996.