ARTH 3160 - Introduction to Premodern Islamic Art and Architecture

This course surveys the art and architecture from the premodern Islamic world, roughly the seventh to sixteenth centuries. We will follow the patronage of major polities and art produced in the central Islamic lands, while at the same time highlighting new methodological approaches in an expanded field. We will be interested in theorizing relationships between centers and peripheries; in the significance of materials and facture; in networks of trade, conflict, and exchange; and in formal continuity and change. Case studies will include works of architecture, ceramics, metalwork, textiles, and the arts of the book. The course consists of in-person lectures and discussions of readings.