AFR 259
Bilad al-Sudan and Beyond: Arts of the Afro-Islamic World Spring 2015
Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Cross-listed ARTH 259 / ARAB 259
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

From the Swahili stone houses of East Africa to the massive earth and timber mosques of the Sahel, the story of Islam in Africa is one of cultural and spiritual hybridity expressed through material form. In this course, students will explore how artistic forms and traditions in Africa have functioned as vehicles of access and integration for Islam, enabling it to assimilate itself with numerous African contexts towards becoming the dominant religious force on the continent. In addition, students will investigate how the forms, functions, and meanings of Afro-Islamic objects across the continent reflect not just one African Islam, but many different iterations, each shaped by the specific frameworks of its cultural context. The contemporary component of the course will examine how modernity in the form of globalization, technology, and Westernization has affected Afro-Islamic artistic traditions, and how these shifts reflect larger evolutions within understandings of Islam in Africa in the contemporary period. This course fulfills EDI requirements through its exploration of the cross-cultural strategies used by Islam to interact with, respond to, and manifest itself within established African expressive traditions.
The Class: Format: lecture
Limit: 25
Expected: 15
Class#: 3094
Grading: OPG
Requirements/Evaluation: two reading response papers (2 pages each), a term paper (8-10 pages) with class presentation, a mid-term exam, and a final exam
Extra Info: may not be taken on a pass/fail basis
Prerequisites: none, although an introductory course in art history or Islamic studies would be useful
Enrollment Preferences: if the course is oversubscribed, preference will be given to students who have declared a major in Art History or Africana Studies
Distributions: Division II Exploring Diversity Initiative
Notes: meets Division 1 requirement if registration is under ARTH or ARAB; meets Division 2 requirement if registration is under AFR
This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
ARTH 259 Division I ARAB 259 Division I AFR 259 Division II
Attributes: ARAB Arabic Studies Electives
ARTH Middle East, Asia and Africa Courses

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