Islam and The West

Catalog description

This course examines the relationship that developed between the Islamic world and the West and their historical impact on each other. The class surveys and analyses the historical relationship between these two regions from the rise of Islam through the early modern period and the advent of European colonialism to modern-day resurgence of traditional aspects of Islam. The course will focus on the Mediterranean as sphere of diplomatic, trade and cultural relations. Particular emphasis will be on periods that saw intensified interaction between the two civilizations. Examples of these are sessions on the Crusades in Syria, the westernisation-modernisation dilemma within the Ottoman reformist movement, the diplomatic battle fought on education between the Ottoman Sultan and the missionary schools, and the exchanges between European and Ottoman intellectuals towards the end of the 19th century.