Introductory description

This module explores the extraordinary breadth of and diversity within Islamic art and architecture from its beginnings in the 7th century CE to the present. Students will encounter myriad objects and buildings from across the Middle East, but also from Africa, Central Asia, India, and South-East Asia, including fragments of the earliest Qur’an manuscripts, to revolutionary innovations in ceramic glaze technology in 9th century Iraq, right up to the Modernist architecture of Beirut and Tehran.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Introduction to Islam and its Arts
The Qur’an & other manuscripts
Mosque and Palace
Ceramics
Metalwork
Textiles and Carpets
The Safavids, Ottomans & Mughals
The 19th century
Modernity

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Identify and negotiate themes and concepts which affect our understanding of Islamic art and architecture
• Engage with and think critically about existing scholarship within the field of Islamic Art.
• With guidance, the ability to gather, select and organise visual and textual material
• Synthesise and present an argument, initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate
• Demonstrate academic skills: ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well-structured argument at an appropriate level
• Familiarity with essential ICT skills
• Ability to collaborate effectively with others
• Show understanding of diverse viewpoints
• Demonstrate understanding of historical context and evidence
• Think conceptually, critically, independently
• Ability to formulate a sustained argument
• Demonstrate knowledge of Islamic art and architecture from the 7th century to the present
• Situate art and architecture in its political, cultural, and religious contexts

Indicative reading list

Akbarnia, Ladan [and five others], The Islamic World: a history in objects (London; 2018)
Allen, James, The art and architecture of Twelver Shi’ism: Iraq, Iran and the Indian sub-continent (London; 2012)
Behrens-Abouseif, Doris, Beauty in Arabic Culture (Princeton, NJ; 1999)
Blair, Sheila and Bloom, Jonathan, The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250-1800 (New Haven, Conn.; 1994)
Carey, Moya, Persian Art (London; 2018)
Carey, Moya and Margaret S. Graves (eds.), Islamic Art Historiography, Journal of Art Historiography, Guest edited by Moya Carey (V&A) and Margaret S. Graves (Indiana University), Number 6 June 2012 http://arthistoriography.wordpress.com/number-6-june-2012-2/
Crill, Rosemary and Stanley, Tim, The making of the Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum (London; 2006)
Ettinghausen, Richard, Oleg Grabar & Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, Islamic Art and Architecture 650-1250, (Yale: Yale University Press, 2001)
Fairchild Ruggles, D. (ed.), Islamic Art and Visual Culture: An Anthology of Sources (Malden, MA, 2011)
Flood, Finbarr Barry, “Between Cult and Culture: Bamiyan, Islamic Iconoclasm, and the Museum,” Art Bulletin 84 (2002): 641-59
George, Alain, The Rise of Islamic Calligraphy. (London: Saqi, 2010)
Grabar, Oleg, The Formation of Islamic Art (New Haven, London; 1987)
Hillenbrand, Robert, Islamic Architecture: Form, Function and Meaning, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1994.
Watson, Oliver, Ceramics from Islamic Lands (London; 2004)

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

• Demonstrate knowledge of Islamic art and architecture from the 7th century to the present
• Situate art and architecture in its political, cultural, and religious contexts
• Identify and negotiate themes and concepts which affect our understanding of Islamic art and architecture
• Engage with and think critically about existing scholarship within the field of Islamic Art.

Transferable skills

• With guidance, the ability to gather, select and organise visual and textual material
• Synthesise and present an argument, initiate and sustain group discussion through intelligent questioning and debate
• Demonstrate academic skills: ability to undertake research and to write up the results in the form of a well-structured argument at an appropriate level
• Familiarity with essential ITC skills
• Ability to collaborate effectively with others
• Show understanding of diverse viewpoints
• Demonstrate understanding of historical context and evidence
• Think conceptually, critically, independently
• Ability to formulate a sustained argument