“An Introduction to the Humanities of Islam”

Starting next week, I’ll be teaching — along with two other classes — an “Introduction to the Humanities of Islam.”  I’m somewhat excited about it, because I’ve completely reconceived the course.  I’ll be approaching it in a very different way than I ever have before.

It’s an experiment, and, of course, it may crash and burn.  There’s always that chance.  But I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes.  Partly because I’m reconfiguring it to accord a bit more closely with things that really interest me.  And partly because I suspect that teachers teach better when they’re teaching things that really fascinate them.

Anyway, we’ll be discussing roughly a dozen examples of Islamic architecture in some detail over the course of the semester — including the Alhambra, in Granada, Spain (which is shown above) — along with a number of significant Islamic literary and philosophical works that I’ve chosen.  Relatively little attention will be paid to dates and memorization, and much more (I hope) to discussion and appreciation.  Which is exactly the way I want it.