Meets Together with HISTART 689-003

This seminar introduces students to the social, cultural, and religious history of Islamic art through a selection of objects held in the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. Objects that will be studied in detail include Islamic ceramics, glasswares, metalwares, coins, amulets, textiles, manuscripts, and calligraphies. These materials shed light on the use and function of aesthetic objects in both secular and religious life; they also show how notions of beauty and order have been expressed by visual means from the beginnings of Islam until today. This seminar therefore encompasses a wide range of themes related to Islamic visual cultures, from monetary communication and burial traditions to architectural remains and Islamic calligraphy. Perhaps just as importantly, the course affords undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to work with primary source materials, thereby gaining first-hand curatorial experience.

Textbooks/Other Materials: All readings are uploaded to Canvas as PDFs.

Course Requirements (quizzes, exams, papers, & grading percentages):
Participation: 20%
One-page visual analysis of an object: 10%
Writing of 2-3 object labels and one wall didactic: 20%
Final presentation: 20%
Research paper on a topic or object(s)related to the seminar: 30%

Intended Audience: Juniors and seniors, and graduate students

Class Format: Three-hour seminar once a week (note: must be once a week, and not twice, as we have to ask the Kelsey staff to pull out objects for each meeting).

Estimated Cost of Materials: $0

HISTART Distribution Requirements: A. Middle East, 2. Medieval and 3. Early Modern