This seminar explores the function and power of the image within practices of cultural, religious, and political expression in the modern and contemporary Islamic world. Various aspects of the visual in diverse geographic spheres are addressed. Whether paintings, art installations, posters, photographs, murals, graffiti, graphic novels, animated movies, or digital media, without a doubt art works raise a number of important questions surrounding practices of iconoclasm, neo-traditional aesthetics, word-and-image interactions, and the use of the image in revolution and war. Addressing a broad selection of artistic forms and thematic issues, this course aims to critically delineate, assess, and expand a number of theoretical models as these have been applied to visual materials produced in the modern and contemporary Islamic world.

HISTART Categories for concentration distributions: A. The Middle East, Western and Central Asia, North Africa, B. Sub-Saharan Africa, 4. Modern and Contemporary.