B5251 - Archaeology and History of Medieval Islamic Art (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students will have an advanced knowledge of the main issues in Islamic archaeology and art history, with particular reference to the medieval period in its various components and geographical areas, and to the history of its study. They will be able to present them effectively in oral and/or written form, using the appropriate terminology, also with reference to the relevant bibliography. They will have acquired useful skills in contextualising the material culture produced in Muslim territories between the 7th and 15th centuries. They will be able to produce quality content that can be used through the various channels of dissemination and diffusion of science and culture, being aware of the implications inherent in the different means of communication and teaching.

Course contents

The course addresses the formative period of Islamic art, starting from the beginning of the Islamic era in the year 622 to the end of the first Muslim dynasty, the Umayyads, in the year 750. The seminars explore various cases of continuity and discontinuity in art and architecture between Late Antiquity and the early Islamic period.

Seminar topics:

1. Late Antique Arabia, the Ka'ba, and Medina

2. The earliest mosques: textual and archaeological evidence

3. Urban transformation after the Islamic conquests: the urban fabric

4. Urban transformation after the Islamic conquests: religious buildings

5. New urban foundations and the mosque–dar al-imara complex

6. ʿAbd al-Malik and the Dome of the Rock: architecture

7. ʿAbd al-Malik and the Dome of the Rock: art

8. Al-Walid and the early 8th-century mosques

9. Figural images in early Islam

10. Umayyad-period agricultural settlements: topography and structures

11. Umayyad-period agricultural settlements: decorative programs

12. The bath complex of Qusayr ʿAmra

13. Qur’anic manuscripts of the early Islamic period

14. Early Islamic material culture: ceramics, metalwork, and glass

15. Recap and conclusions

Readings/Bibliography

Reading list for those who attend the course:

K.A.C. Creswell, L’architettura islamica delle origini, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 1966.

Oleg Grabar, Arte islamica. La formazione di una civiltà, Milano, Electa, 1989.

 

Reading list for those who do not attend the course:

K.A.C. Creswell, L’architettura islamica delle origini, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 1966.

Oleg Grabar, Arte islamica. La formazione di una civiltà, Milano, Electa, 1989.

Garth Fowden, Quṣayr ʿAmra: Art and the Umayyad Elite in Late Antique Syria, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2004.

Alain George, The Umayyad Mosque of Damascus: Art, Faith and Empire in Early Islam, Londra, Gingko, 2021.

Teaching methods

The course consists of seminars structured in two parts. The first part features a presentation on the assigned topic of the day given by the students, followed by a second part with a lecture delivered by the instructor. A specific bibliography will be assigned to the presenting students and made available as optional reading for all course participants.

Assessment methods

Exam sessions are scheduled for the following months of the academic year:

- March

- May

- July

- September

- November

- January

 

Students who attend at least 75% of the lessons are considered to be attending.

The final mark consists of the average between the assessment of the written essay and the assessment of the final oral exam.

The essay consists of a written piece of around 3000 words on a theme related to the program of the course decided together with the professor.

With regard to the written essay, students will be evaluated assessing their skills in:

• Structuring the written essay according to the theme;
• Formulating an accurate formal analysis of the object/building focus of the written essay;
• Reviewing the existing literature;
• Outlining the historical and artistic context of the assigned object/building;
• Producing a written essay provided with high-quality images and a consistent and accurate footnoting and bibliography.

The oral exam consists of an analysis of two objects/buildings discussed during the course and shown in slides during the exam and of a question regarding one of the themes discussed during the course.

In the oral exam the student will be assessed according to the:

• Capacity of analysis developed by the student also at the light of the written essay;
• Command of the specific language of the subject;
• Ability in summarizing the most important topics of the subject.

29-30 e lode: a written essay that successfully meets all the above-mentioned five criteria together with the acquisition by the student of an excellent command of the technical language of the subject and an all-around knowledge of the themes discussed during the oral exam.

25-28: a written essay that successfully meets at least four of the above-mentioned criteria together with the use of a rather correct technical language and an accurate exposition of the subject during the oral exam.

21-24: a written essay that successfully meets at least three of the above mentioned criteria together with some inadequacies in the use of the technical language and a superficial exposition of the subject during the oral exam.

18-20: a written essay that meets at least three of the above mentioned criteria together with a patchy and poor exposition of the subject during the oral exam or a written essay that meets less than three among the above mentioned criteria together with a very basic exposition of the subject during the oral exam.

Failure: a written essay that meets less than three among the above mentioned criteria together with a patchy and poor exposition of the subject during the oral exam.

 

Contents of the exam for those students who do not attend the course:

Contents of the exam for those students who do not attend the course:

1) Discussion of an essay (of at least 5000 words) devoted to a topic related to theprogram of the course.

2) Two questions on topics related to the program of the course.

Details:

1) The student selects a theme and sends an outline of the essay together with a preliminary bibliography to the professor by email. Once the theme is approved, the student writes the essay and sends it to the professor at least one week before the date of the exam.

2) to prepare the two questions related to the program of the course (one on architecture and one on objects) the student is invited to read the bibliography listed in the above section "readings/bibliography for those who do not attend the course".

 

Teaching tools

All seminar presentations and readings will be made available through the e-learning platform (Virtuale).

Students with learning disorders and/or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) as soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriateness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Mattia Guidetti