Europe and the Islamicate World 6000-1800

Catalog description

This course will trace the dynamic relationship between "Europe" and the "Middle East" from the rise of Islam to the Enlightenment. Through philosophical works and travel accounts from the Mediterranean region, students will examine how European and Middle Eastern views of the "other" evolved over time as the domination of the Mediterranean shifted from East to West. We will investigate this dynamic within the context of the major components of culture and assess the points of contact that led to moments of intolerance and conflict and periods of amicable and co-beneficial associations