Introduction to Islamic Art.

Catalog description

Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: ARTH 103 or ARTH 104 . The course introduces the social, political and cultural developments and changes of art, material culture and the built environment of the early centuries of Islam, starting with its founding in the 7th century until the early modern period (ca. 1700s). The regions covered in this course span West, Central and South Asia, North Africa and southern Spain. The course foregrounds a number of important monuments, artworks and urban structures in these regions and considers major visual trends, varying patterns of use, urban transformations, intersections of belief systems, cross-cultural encounters and changing societal values attributed to visual culture and architecture by members of the region’s diverse social, political and cultural milieus. Although focused on the history of Islamic art before the 19th century, the course includes a consideration of relevant modern and contemporary examples of visual culture and architecture that engage with historical traditions.