080049 VO A Short Story of Islamic Art: Themes and Perspectives (2022W)

Scope:
The course offers an introduction to major themes and contexts of Islamic art and to scholarly perspectives of studying them. It addresses the visuality and typology of the architecture of the mosque, the question of the image in Islam and of figural imagery in book painting, concepts of the princely palace and the royal palace city, the use and scope of ornament, the arts of writing and calligraphy, and connections with European and Chinese art.
Topics are discussed through exemplary artworks and in a chronological and regional framework, with a focus on arts of Western Asia and the Mediterranean in the medieval and early modern periods, c. 650 - 1800 CE.

Structure and Requirements:
The course is taught as an alternating sequence of lectures and discussions of assigned readings. The lecture sessions (weeks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11) are introducing and surveying the topic, the discussion sessions (weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12) delve deeper and look into scholarly perspectives. The lectures are delivered in the English language. The discussions require the active participation of students and will be mixed English and German. Students are asked to have read before the discussion session short texts of scholarly literature that will be provided online.
Students can choose to participate in the lectures only, or in both lecture and discussion sessions. For a successful exam, it is necessary to follow both the lectures and the reading and discussion sessions.