Weekly Schedule

Week 1: Orientations

1/21 Wed: Bridging East and West

1/23 Fri: Re-Orientation under the Muslim Banner

Week 2: Cultural Matrixes of Islamic Civilization

1/26 Mon: Geography of the Muslim World

1/28 Wed: Arabia on the Eve of Islam

1/30 Fri: Nomads, Settlers and Empires

Week 3: Arab Conquests and the Early Caliphate

2/2 Mon: Mecca, Medina and the leadership of Muhammad

Map Assignment Due in class

2/4 Wed: Conquest, consolidation and the caliphate

2/6 Fri: Factions, partisanship and the diversification of the umma

Week 4: Imperial Immaturity

2/9 Mon: The Umayyad Caliphate

2/11 Wed: Jihad and the lingering Byzantine threat

2/13 Fri: Christians, Muslims and the new Syria

Week 5: Building a Civilization

2/16 Mon: NO CLASS – Winter Holiday

2/18 Wed: Mosques, Monuments and Amsar

2/20 Fri: Settlement and the socio-economics of Dar al-Islam (the “Abode of Islam”)

Week 6: The Golden Age (or When Baghdad Ruled the World)

2/23 Mon: The Abbasid Revolution and the Round City

2/25 Wed: Harun al-Rashid and good times

2/27 Fri: The Samarra period and imperial excess

Week 7: Cultural Institutions

3/2 Mon: Islam and the city

3/4 Wed: The Islamic Sciences

3/6 Fri: Arts and the palace culture

Week 8: Engagements with Europe

3/11 Mon: Islam and the Origins of Europe

3/13 Mid-Term Exam Due at 5pm (NO CLASS)

3/15 Fri: al-Andalus I(Islamic Spain) – A model of tolerance?

Week 9: Fragmentation of the Caliphate

3/16 Mon: The Shiite Century

3/18 Wed: The Fatimids and the rival capital of Cairo

3/20 Fri: Here come the Crusaders

Week 10: Spring Break

Week 11: The return to Sunni Orthodoxy

3/30 Mon: The Seljuks and the new order

4/1 Wed: Discussion of Samarkand

4/3 Fri: The madrasa and the new intellectual elite

Week 12: Internationalism

4/6 Mon: Connections with Africa

4/8 Wed: The Indian Ocean Trade

4/10 Fri: Prospects for the Mediterranean

Mini-Project Due

Week 13: They came from the East; He traveled from the West

4/13 Mon: The Mongol hoards

4/15 Wed: The Mamluks, the last hope

4/17 Fri: The Rihla of Ibn Battuta and the restoration of order

Week 14: Reflections

4/20 Mon: Religion and the state

4/22 Wed: Islam vs islams: The dimensions of Muslim culture

4/24 Fri: NO CLASS – Professor Straughn out of town

Book Review Due

Week 15: Reading Period

4/27 Mon: Review Session – Historical and Cultural Themes

4/29 Wed: Review Session – Glossary

The final exam will be given during the date scheduled by the registrar.