An Introduction to Islamic Archaeology (winter term 2017/2018)
Prof Bethany Walker
First session: Tuesday, October 10, 2017 - 4.00 to 6.00 pm (CET)
Last session: Tuesday, January 23, 2018 - 4.00 to 6.00 pm (CET)
This webinar is part of the "Webinar Initiative in Islamic Material Culture" jointly organized by the Universität Bonn (Bethany Walker), the Ludwig-Maximilian-Universität in Munich (Andreas Kaplony), The Bard Graduate Center in New York (Abigail Balbale), and Universität Hamburg (Stefan Heidemann).
Course Description
In this webinar, students will be introduced to the basic methods and scope of inquiry of Islamic archaeology, as a way of studying material culture, and will better understand its conceptual and methodological relationship to kindred disciplines, such as Islamic Studies, Art History, Sociology and Anthropology, and Cultural History. The potential of archaeological scope of inquiry and methods for answering questions related to economic, socio-cultural, environmental, and family (household) history will be emphasized. Chronological range is 7th-19th centuries CE, with case studies taken from sites throughout the Islamic world. Comparisons across cultures (with non-Muslim culture) will be also made as needed.
Students will acquire a degree of competence in reading archaeological reports, accessing and using a variety of electronic resources, framing research questions and projects appropriate to the discipline, methods related to combining textual and material cultural analysis, assessing evidence and relevance of the long durée concept of social change, and basic concepts of spatial analysis.
Assignments include leading one webinar during the semester; writing a grant proposal for a mock project; and the occasional, ungraded short written assignments on weekly readings.
The course is part of the required curriculum for the MA program in Islamic Archaeology at the University of Bonn. Students from the University of Bonn taking the course for credit in this program or as an elective in another major are required to attend for the full semester. For students taking the course as part of the Webinar Initiative in Islamic Material Culture, you should participate in at least six meetings over the course of the semester, and give one seminar presentation.
Class Guidelines (for students outside Universität Bonn, i.e. webinar participants)
- As a participant in the series of webinars on Material Culture in Medieval Islamic Society, you will attend and participate in at least six class meetings, giving a presentation in one of them.
- Each student will give a Powerpoint presentation of 20 minutes in length according to the weekly schedule above. The presentation will be based on research in published and online venues.
Syllabus and Required Readings
This webinar takes place weekly from 4.00 to 6.00 pm CET.
October - What Does Islamic Archaeology Contribute to a Study of Islamic Societies?
1) Tuesday, October 10, 2017 - Introduction to the Course
2) Tuesday, October 17, 2017 - Archaeological Contributions I: Economic History
3) Tuesday, October 24, 2017 - Archaeological Contributions II: Rural Society
4) Tuesday, October 31, 2017 - Archaeological Contributions III: Household and Gender
November - Disciplinary Methods (Fieldwork and Labwork): How Do Archaeologists Do Their Work?
5) Tuesday, November 7, 2017 - Fieldwork and Data Management
6) Tuesday, November 14, 2017 - Presentations
7) Tuesday, November 21, 2017 - Space and Landscapes (Guest Lecture: Prof. José Carvajal, UCL-Qatar)
8) Tuesday, November 28, 2017 - Presentations
December - Interdisciplinary Methods (Writing and Publication)
9) Tuesday, December 5, 2017 - How to Read an Archaeological Report? How to Read Maps and Charts?
10) Tuesday, December 12, 2017 - "Text and Tell": Combining Archaeological and Written Sources
11) Tuesday, December 19, 2017 - Presentations
January - Working with Ceramics
12) Tuesday, January 9, 2018 - Virtual Lab: Basics of Ceramics Analysis
13) Tuesday, January 16, 2018 - Problems in Studying Ceramics Archaeologically
14) Tuesday, January 23, 2018 - Presentations and Class Wrap-Up
A more detailed class schedule and the reading list will be sent to the participants via e-mail. The required readings will be made available via Dropbox.
Requirements and Application
Spoken and written proficiency in English language. Otherwise, there are no prerequisites. The course is open to all MA students (regardless of major). All students need a computer, reliable internet access, and a headset.
Students from outside the University of Bonn have to apply with a short CV and a motivation letter in English. These will be emailed to Prof Bethany Walker at bwalker@uni-bonn.de. A short Skype interview will be conducted afterwards.
Preference is given to students from universities where a special agreement exists. Students of Hamburg University can choose this course in their Wahlbereich.