Cultures & Contexts: Islamic Societies

Catalog description

A survey of the politics, social life, culture, and economy of the Islamic world from the life of Prophet Muhammad (570-632) to the rise of the early modern Islamic empires in the sixteenth century. Islamic civilization rose from its humble origins in the seventh century Arabian Peninsula to become a world civilization and global culture, but how was this astonishing transformation accomplished? We examine the advent of Islam, as well as the development of the civilization that bears its name over a thousand-year period and analyze what Islam meant to different societies at different points in space and time. We consider both the shared features that have distinguished Muslim societies under the aegis of Islamic civilization and also the varieties of experience that endowed the region with vast cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and regional diversity. Topics include identity, Islamic law, mysticism, gender and sexualities, minorities, science, and art and architecture.