Undergraduate Course: Between Byzantium and China: the Rise of Islamic Art (HIAR10127)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | History of Art |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course explores the first great artistic expressions of Islamic art. Starting with the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the Great Mosque of Damascus, it charts the rise of Islamic religious architecture, in parallel with the most revered art form in Islam: calligraphy. While the early phases of this development were primarily centred on the Mediterranean, they soon gave way to an increasingly Asian outlook. Iraq, which housed several of the largest and most cosmopolitan cities in the world, developed direct trade and diplomatic links with the Far East, as recently illuminated by the discovery of an Arab shipwreck in the South China sea. The city plan of Baghdad, the new capital of the Islamic empire founded in 762, may itself have been inspired by Central Asian Buddhist architecture. The Islamic lands also stretched as far West as Spain, whose soil carries one of the foremost Islamic monuments, the Great Mosque of Cordoba. Through the study of these and other topics, such as the conception of beauty in Late Antiquity and early Islam, students will become acquainted with the foundational period of Islamic art and culture, which bears a particular resonance in our multicultural age. The course also involves firsthand experience of early Qur¿anic fragments in University collections. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 1, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: 20 |
Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
16/09/2013 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Revision Session Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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| Additional Notes |
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| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours:Minutes |
|
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | Between Byzantium and Asia: the Rise of Islamic Art | 2:00 | | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
1. On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Assess the meaning of key early Islamic monuments and artworks.
2. 2. Analyse works of art and architecture as documents on the history, belief systems and mentalities of Islamic civilisation.
3. 3. Assemble evidence from different geographical and historical contexts in order to inform their view of a given work of art.
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Assessment Information
1 x 2 hour examination - 50%
1 x 2,500 word essay - 50% |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Seminar list
Introduction: On Late Antique aesthetics
The Dome of the Rock
The Great Mosque of Damascus
The Rise of Arabic Calligraphy
Proportion, poetics, ornament: On beauty in early Islam
Cosmos and empire: the foundation of Baghdad
Islam and China: early encounters in art and culture
The Iconic Word: the Blue Qur¿an
Navel of the world: Abbasid imperial palaces at Samarra
The Great Mosque of Cordoba
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| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
General reference works
Blair, Sheila, and Jonathan Bloom. 2009. The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ettinghausen, Richard, Oleg Grabar, and Marilyn Jenkins. 2001. The Art and Architecture of Islam 650-1250. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Evans, Helen C., and Brandie Ratliff, ed. 2012. Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Grabar, Oleg. 1987. The Formation of Islamic Art. 2nd ed. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Hillenbrand, Robert. 1999. Islamic Art and Architecture. London: Thames and Hudson.
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Alain George
Tel:
Email: a.george@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Sue Cavanagh
Tel: (0131 6)51 1460
Email: Sue.Cavanagh@ed.ac.uk |
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© Copyright 2013 The University of Edinburgh - 10 October 2013 4:29 am
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