Undergraduate Course: Medieval Islamic Empires (HIST10352)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Islam today excites many passions and controversies. In the Modern world no other religion has been more scrutinised, subject to misconceptions or the apparent cause of much global conflict. Under the ¿clash of civilisations¿ thesis Islam is presented as a monolithic creed that defies logic and rational explanation. Yet the history of Islam demonstrates a myriad of traditions, societies and pluralist interpretaions. The Islamic world spanned an enormous geographical region from the Bay of Bengal to the Atlantic Ocean. The development of Islam and the medieval world it gave birth to is a history of diversity, scientific advance and intellectual ferment. Islamic rulers both conquered lands thus unifying peoples under a pan-Islamist entity but their empires were also the product of incorporation and synthesis. The study of medieval Islam will provide students the opportunity to reflect upon a period of history that was instrumental to global developments and in the making of Europe. This course is a product of course organiser's long term interest in medieval polities in non-western history. |
| Course description |
1. Mohammed and rise of Islamic armies
2. Early Islamic Caliphates: Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties
3. Islamic Spain
4. Safavid Persia
5. Mughal India
6. Ottoman Empire
7. Science, Knowlwdge and Philosophy
8. Women, Sexual etiquette and Pleasure
9. Art and Architecture
10. Cultural Pluralism and minorities
11. Warfare and military technology
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | A pass or passes in 40 credits of first level historical courses or equivalent and a pass or passes in 40 credits of second level historical courses or equivalent.
Before enrolling students on this course, Personal Tutors are asked to contact the History Honours Admission Secretary to ensure that a place is available (Tel: 503783). |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 History courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission.
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
|
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 26 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
67 %,
Coursework
33 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Students will complete one essay of 2,500-3,000 words and sit one two-hour Degree Examination. The final mark will be composed of the essay mark, weighted at one third of the final mark, and the exam mark, weighted at two thirds of the final mark. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
Students who take this course will be able to demonstrate through written coursework, examination and participation in class discussions:
1. A fuller appreciation of the main developments in the history of Medieval Islam. They will be able to place this in a wider historical and geographic context.
2. They will acquire a firm grasp of factors contributing to the expansion of Islamic empires as well as appreciating the diversity and plurality of these dynasties and variety of polities they gave rise to.
3. The ability to think critically and objectively about historical events and to formulate an informed opinion in the face of conflicting interpretations and claims.
4. The ability to participate in informed discussion and debate concerning the medieval world and the role of Islam in its development.
5. Develop a greater familiarity with the primary and secondary sources.
6. Be able to critically analyse relevant main historiographical debates and develop their own ideas and positions in relation to them.
7. A better understanding of comparative historical method.
|
Reading List
Patricia Crone, ¿The Rise of Islam in the World¿ in Francis Robinson (ed.), The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World (Cambridge, 1996)
¿ ____________ Medieval Islamic Political Thought (Edinburgh 2004)
¿ Albert Hourani, History of the Arab Peoples (London, 2005)
¿ Francis Robinson, Atlas of the Islamic World since 1500 (Phaidon, Oxford 1982)
¿ _____________ The Mughal Emperors and the Islamic Dynasties of India, Iran and Central Asia 1206-1925. (Thames & Hudson, London, 2007)
¿ Ira Lapidus, History of Islamic Societies, (Cambridge, 2002)
¿ Bernard Lewis (ed.), The World of Islam: faith, people, culture (London 1992)
¿ Gustave Edmund von Grunebaum, Medieval Islam: a study in cultural orientation (Chicago, 1946)
¿ Josef W. Meri (ed.), Medieval Islamic Civilisation: an encyclopedia (London 2005)
¿ Maxime Rodinson, Muhammed (London 1996)
¿ Charles Melville, (ed.), Safavid Persia: the history and politics of an Islamic Empire (London 1996)
¿ Andrew Newman, Safavid Iran: rebirth of a Persian Empire, (London 2006)
¿ ____________(ed.), Society and culture in the early modern Middle East : studies on Iran in the Safavid period (Leiden, 2003)
¿ John F. Richards The Mughal Empire (Cambridge 1993)
¿ Richard Eaton, The Rise of Islam on the Bengal Frontier 1204-1760, (Berkeley, 1993)
¿ Marshall Hodgson, Venture of Islam (Chicago, 1974) 3 vols.
¿ Hugh Kennedy, (ed.), An Historical Atlas of Islam, (Leiden, 2002)
¿ _____________ The Great Arab conquests: how the spread of Islam changed the world we live in, (London, 2007)
¿ Susan Stronge, Painting for the Mughal Emperor: the art of the book,
1550-1660 (London, 2002)
¿ Suraiya Faroqhi, Approaching Ottoman History: an introduction to the sources (Cambridge 1999)
¿ ________________ The Ottoman Empire and the world around it (London, 2004
¿ Hugh Kennedy, Muslim Spain and Portugal: a political history of al Andalus, (Harlow, 1996)
|
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Students wiil acquire an enhanced capacity to:
1. Grapple with complexity and historical argumentation
2. Integrate material from a range of sources in order to make reasoned arguments across regional boundaries.
3. A capacity to use theoretical insights to make sense of concrete historical circumstances
4. Improved presentational skills through seminar presentations and essay-writing
|
| Keywords | Medieval Islamic |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Talat Ahmed
Tel: (0131 6)50 3762
Email: T.Ahmed@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Marie-Therese Rafferty
Tel: (0131 6)50 3780
Email: M.T.Rafferty@ed.ac.uk |
|
© Copyright 2014 The University of Edinburgh - 12 January 2015 4:08 am
|
University Homepage