Islamic City

There are various ways of studying a culture, civilization or a religious tradition. One can choose the window of history (thus studying its historical origins and evolution), read the various texts its inhabitants has produced, listen to the stories that were deemed important by its inhabitants, listen (or/and speak) to the inhabitants OR approach them “spatially”, i.e., by paying close attention to the spaces that they created. It is the latter that we do in our explorations this term. Our explorations this term are “imagined” to discover and share a bird’s eye view of premodern Muslim Spaces. It seeks to understand Islamic societies and its inhabitants “the Muslims” by painting a picture/image of a typical “Islamic City” with its religious, cultural, social, political, and economic life. With the enablers (Mr. James Sponsel and Caitlin Christian-Lamb from the Library, and Mr. Brian Little from ITS) assisting you in your explorations, you will ‘choose’, ‘discover’, ‘imagine’ and ‘present’ An Islamic City and the lived experience of it.