Art of the Islamic World Rebecca M. Brown | rmbrown@jhu.edu | OH Th 10:30–11:30 & by appt.

Spring 2014 | TTh 9-10:15 | AS 010.110

Overview This course is an introduction to the art of the Islamic world from the 7th century to the present, to include architecture, painting, mosaic, ceramics, textiles, metalwork, and contemporary media such as video and installation art. In addition to engaging with the region where Islam emerged—the eastern Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula—the course examines North Africa, Spain, Iran and Central Asia, and South Asia.

Grade Breakdown Participation: 10% Hemis: 10% each Visual analyses: 10% each Midterm: 25% Final: 25%

Writing Hemis Twice during the semester you will be asked to turn in a short, 250-word long essay called a hemi. Detailed instructions for hemis will be handed out in class.

Walters or Freer (DC) Visual Analyses Both the Walters Art Museum and the Freer Gallery in DC have excellent collections of Islamic art objects and manuscripts. You will choose one object—an object on view in the galleries—and write a 3-page visual analysis of it. Detailed instructions will be handed out in class.

Exams The midterm and non-cumulative final will share the same format: a combination of essay questions based on images and short answers. You will receive a detailed handout to help you prepare for the exam.

Policies Academic honesty is taken very seriously at JHU; please acquaint yourself with and uphold the tenets outlined in the Student Handbook. Plagiarism is a serious offense and a breach of academic honesty of the highest order. It will not be tolerated in this course. If you are unsure of the definition of plagiarism, or other forms of academic misconduct, please consult the handbook, and then make an appointment to speak with me about any questions you may have. The lightest penalty for plagiarism is failure for the course.

Students with disabilities who require accommodations are advised to contact the Disability Office before the start of the semester. Any letters regarding accommodations for assignments should be presented to me well before scheduled deadlines.

Late assignments: Each day late the assignment receives a full-grade penalty (B becomes C).

In all cases above, if there is an emergency please contact the Dean of Students. She will be able to coordinate with your professors and make sure you do not fall behind.

A note on “learning goals” Learning cannot be teleological. A commitment to the project of this course may help you to think critically on a range of subjects, unpack complex problems not easily boiled down into constituent parts, present cogent arguments in speaking and writing, and practice engaged reading. Because the course focuses on visual culture and the built environment in addition to text, it may challenge you to expand your critical thinking to encompass these media, often (but not always) considered distinct from text. In sum, this course provides the framework for students to think critically about the visual culture, history, and historiography of the Islamicate world.

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Schedule

Books (in bookstore) Blair, Sheila and Jonathan Bloom. 1994. The Art and Architecture of Islam, 1250-1800. New Haven, CT: Yale University

Press. (BB) Ettinghausen, Richard, Oleg Grabar, and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina. 2001. Islamic Art and Architecture, 650-1250. 2nd ed.

New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. (EGJ)

Date Theme EGJ & BB Reading Task28 Jan What is Islamic(ate) Art? EGJ 3-1430 Jan Early Islam: Arabian Peninsula EGJ Ch 2 Behrens-Abouseif 19974 Feb Dome of the Rock: discussion Grabar & Rabbat Hemi 1 due6 Feb Early Islam: Abbasids11 Feb Early Islam: Qur’ans & the book13 Feb ~no class meeting today~ visit Walters or Freer18 Feb Early Islam: Umayyad Spain EGJ Ch 320 Feb Egypt: Fatimids & Mamluks EGJ 6 pt1, BB 8 Behrens-Abouseif 1992 Visual Analysis Paper due25 Feb Turkey & Iran: Seljuks EGJ Ch 6 pt 227 Feb India: Sultanates EGJ 5, BB 11 Flood4 Mar Moveable objects: the Hajj6 Mar Midterm11 Mar Iran: Ilkhanids BB Ch 2 & 313 Mar Iran: Timurids BB Ch 4 & 5 Wilber25 Mar Images of Muhammad: discussion Gruber Hemi 2 due27 Mar Spain: Nasirids BB Ch 9 Ruggles1 Apr Safavids BB Ch 12-133 Apr Safavids Ergin8 Apr Mughals BB Ch 18-19 Visual Analysis Paper due10 Apr Mughals Koch15 Apr Deccan17 Apr Women & Patronage: discussion Hutton & Thys-Senocak22 Apr Ottomans BB Ch 15-1624 Apr Orientalism & Photography BB 20 Behdad & Nochlin29 Apr Modern & Contemporary I Dadi, Daftari1 May Modern & Contemporary II O’Brien, Hashmi9 May Final Exam, 9-noon

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E-Reserves !30 Jan Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. 1997. “The Lion-Gazelle Mosaic at Khirbat al-Mafjar.” Muqarnas 14: 11–18. !4 Feb Grabar, Oleg. 1959. “The Umayyad Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.” Ars Orientalis 3: 33–62. Rabbat, Nasser. 1989. “The Meaning of the Umayyad Dome of the Rock.” Muqarnas 6: 12–21. !20 Feb Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. 1992. "The Façade of the Aqmar Mosque in the Context of Fatimid Ceremonial." Muqarnas 9:

29–38. !27 Feb Flood, Finbarr B. 2003. “Pillars, Palimpsests, and Princely Practices: Translating the past in Sultanate Delhi.” RES:

Anthropology and Aesthetics 43 (Spring): 95–116. !13 Mar Wilber, Donald N. 1979. “The Timurid Court: Life in Gardens and Tents.” Iran 17: 127–33. !25 Mar Gruber, Christiane. 2009. “Between Logos (Kalima) and Light (Nur): Representations of the Prophet Muhammad in

Islamic Painting.” Muqarnas 26: 229–62. !27 Mar Ruggles, D. Fairchild. 1997. “The Eye of Sovereignty: Poetry and Vision in the Alhambra’s Lindaraja Mirador.” Gesta 36.2:

180–89. !3 Apr Ergin, Nina. 2013. “Rock Faces, Opium and Wine: Speculations on the Original Viewing Context of Persianate

Manuscripts.” Der Islam 90.1: 65–105. !10 Apr Koch, Ebba. 2005. “The Taj Mahal: Architecture, Symbolism, and Urban Significance.” Muqarnas 22: 128–49. !17 Apr Hutton, Deborah. 2005. “Carved in Stone: The Codification of a Visual Identity for the Indo-Islamic Sultanate of Bidjāpūr.”

Archives of Asian Art 55: 65–78. Thys-Senocak, Lucienne. 2000. “The Yeni Valide Mosque Complex of Eminönü, Istanbul (1597–1695): Gender and Vision

in Ottoman Architecture.” In D. Fairchild Ruggles, ed., Women, Patronage, and Self-Representation in Islamic Societies. Albany: SUNY Press, pp. 69–89. !

24 Apr Behdad, Ali. 2001. “The Powerful Art of Qajar Photography: Orientalism and Self-Orientalizing in Nineteenth Century

Iran.” Iranian Studies 34.1–4: 141–51. Nochlin, Linda. 1989 [1983]. “The Imaginary Orient.” In her The Politics of Vision: Essays on Nineteenth-Century Art and

Society. New York: Harper & Row, pp. 33–59. Originally published in Art in America 71.5 (May): 118–31, 187–91. !29 Apr Dadi, Iftikhar. 2010. “Mid-Century Modernism.” In his Modernism and the Art of Muslim South Asia. Chapel Hill: University

of North Carolina Press, pp. 93–133, 249–56 (notes). Daftari, Fereshteh. 2013. “Redefining Modernism: Pluralist Art Before the 1979 Revolution.” In Fereshteh Daftari et al.,

eds. Iran Modern. New York: Asia Society, pp. 25–43. !1 May O’Brien, David. 2004. “Beyond East and West: Seven Transnational Artists.” In David O’Brien and David Prochaska, eds.

Beyond East and West: Seven Transnational Artists. Champaign, IL: Krannert Art Museum, pp. 11–29. Hashmi, Salima. 2009. “Hanging Fire: An Introduction.” In Salima Hashmi and Naazish Ata-Ullah, eds., Hanging Fire:

Contemporary Art from Pakistan. New York: Asia Society, pp. 13–29.

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