Global Humanities

MICHELINA DI CESARE

The course will allow students to: acquire a basic knowledge of the early architectural and artistic expressions of Islamic culture and the ability to understand their relationships with previous and neighboring traditions; become familiar with methodological approaches to the study of Islam and its material culture; develop the ability to gather, evaluate, process and communicate information on specific topics related to Islamic architecture and arts; increase the skills required to progress on to further education.

After attending the course, students will have acquired: a knowledge of the main problems and research prospects concerning early Islamic urban planning, architecture and artistic forms; the ability to analyse sites, buildings and artefacts dating to the early Islamic period and to insert them into their specific chronological, geographical and cultural contexts; the capacity to pursue research in the field of Islamic Archaeology and History of Architecture, and communicate its results.

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The course will present the architectural typologies and artistic forms developed in the dar al-Islam between the 7th and the 11th centuries through the analysis of relevant sites and monuments. It will also include a historical and cultural introduction to the Islamic civilization.

Lo Jacono, Islamismo, Firenze-Milano 2019 (an English translation will be provided)
Ettinghausen, Grabar, Jenkins Medina, Islamic Art and Architecture, 650-1250, New Haven-London 2001, pp. 1-130, 186-213

Lo Jacono, Islamismo, Firenze-Milano 2019
Ettinghausen, Grabar, Jenkins Medina, Islamic Art and Architecture, 650-1250, New Haven-London 2001

Lectures and discussions.

Recommended.

Attending students: 40% attendance (75% of the course at least); 60 % oral exam.
Non-attending students: 100% oral exam.

Most recurring topics:
The Pillars of Islam; the Haram of Mecca and the Ka'ba; the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina; the Haram of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock.

• Introduction to Islam
  • Books: Lo Jacono; Notes taken in the classroom


• Historical and cultural setting 
  • Books: Lo Jacono; Notes taken in the classroom


• Arts and architecture at the time of the Prophet Muhammad
  • Books: Ettinghausen-Grabar-Jenkins Madina; Notes taken in the classroom


• Early
  Islamic settlements 
  • Books: Ettinghausen-Grabar-Jenkins Madina; Notes taken in the classroom


• Material
  culture in the Umayyad period 
  • Books: Ettinghausen-Grabar-Jenkins Madina; Notes taken in the classroom


• Material culture in the Early Abbasid period 
  • Books: Ettinghausen-Grabar-Jenkins Madina; Notes taken in the classroom