Module ARA2014 for 2019/0
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
ARA2014: Regions and Empires in Islamic Archaeology
This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.
Module Aims
Students will develop critical skills in understanding Islamic archaeology as it contributes to reconstructing the history of large parts of the globe. They will gain an appreciation of regional differences and similarities in Islamic archaeology and an enriched understanding of Islamic heritage and monuments.
Through analysis completed in the Islamic galleries of major UK museums (e.g. the British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum) students will be introduced to critical appreciation of public heritage narratives and displays, and pertinent debates in museology associated with representing Islam.
Individual short presentations on agreed Islamic archaeological topics will permit students to engage in-depth in researching a specific site or body of material. This can help in developing other dissertations, and projects, and enhances research skills transferable across course units in power point presentation, library and web based research, and group based discussion.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Understand the key different empires and regions that have been significant in Islamic history from an archaeological perspective 2. Analyse Islamic archaeology and material culture museum displays from a critical perspective |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Evaluate the value of different categories of archaeological evidence in reconstructing past societies 4. Demonstrate understanding of regional differences in approaches within archaeology |
| Personal and Key Skills | 5. Develop enhanced confidence in completing independent research 6. Prepare and present a succinct power point presentation 7. Critically evaluate different categories of textual, visual, and material culture evidence |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Agius, D.A.. 2008. Classic ships of Islam: from Mesopotamia to the Indian Ocean. Leiden: Brill.
Bennison, A.K. 2009. The Great Caliphs: The Golden Age of the 'Abbasid Empire. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Brett, M, 2017. The Fatimid Empire. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Donner, F. M. 2010. Muhammad and the Believers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Cooper, J.P. 2014. The Medieval Nile: Route, Landscape and Navigation in Islamic Egypt. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press.
Crone, P. 1987. Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Glassé, C. 2001. The Concise Encyclopaedia of Islam. London: Stacey International.
Hourani, A. H. 1991. A history of the Arab peoples. Imprint London : Faber.
Insoll, T. 1999. The Archaeology of Islam. Oxford: Blackwell.
Insoll, T. 2003. The Archaeology of Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kennedy, H. 2007. The great Arab conquests: how the spread of Islam changed the world we live in. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Lev, Y. 1991. State and Society in Fatimid Egypt. Leiden: Brill.
Milwright, M. 2010. An Introduction to Islamic Archaeology. New Edinburgh Islamic Surveys.
Power, T, 2012. The Red Sea from Byzantium to the Caliphate. Cairo: American University of Cairo Press.
Ruthven, M. with Nanji, A. 2004. Historical Atlas of the Islamic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Woodhead, C. 2013. The Ottoman World: London: Routledge.
