Europe

A survey of major philosophers from the classical period of Islamic thought. Among those whose works we will sample are Kindī (Alkindi), Rāzī (Rhazes), Fārābī (Alfarabi), Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna), Ġazālī (Algazel), Ibn Rušd (Averroes), and Ibn Bajja (Avempace). We will give special attention, as did they, to the relation between philosophy and prophecy and that between philosophy and theology, to Islamic occasionalism, and to the nature and destiny of the soul.

This course provides an introduction to major philosophers from the classical period of Islamic thought through their own writings. We will give special attention, as did they, to the relation between philosophy and prophecy and that between philosophy and theology, to divine and natural causality, and to the nature and destiny of the soul.

Readings:

This course traces the history of the ottoman empire from its origins as an obscure band of frontier warriors, to the highpoint of its geopolitical power in the sixteenth century, and on to its further evolution as an increasingly complex and peaceful society, down to the opening of the period of European imperialism and nation building. It will address not only the ottomans' political power, but also those economic, social, and cultural factors that helped explain that power and gave the empire such a distinctive place in the history of Western Europe, Balkans and the Middle East.

The Renaissance was a decisive movement in world history. It developed as a cultural and intellectual movement in the global context. Between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, Europe and Muslim world engaged in intense exchange of ideas, objects, and skills shaped the Renaissance in Europe and in the Muslim World. This course will begin with a critical history of the evolution of the term.

This course traces the history of the ottoman empire from its origins as an obscure band of frontier warriors, to the highpoint of its geopolitical power in the sixteenth century, and on to its further evolution as an increasingly complex and peaceful society, down to the opening of the period of European imperialism and nation building. It will address not only the ottomans' political power, but also those economic, social, and cultural factors that helped explain that power and gave the empire such a distinctive place in the history of Western Europe, Balkans and the Middle East

The course medieval Iberia stresses the conflicts and encounters between Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Through the analysis of a wide variety of selected and translated primary sources as well as modern historiography, the course presents the main entities and processes evolving in Iberia from 711 to 1492. The major cultural entities approached are: Al-Andalus, Hispania, and Sefarad. The main processes are: the consolidation of states, the unfolding of military Campains, the development of cultural interactions, and the transformations of the economic and social life.