CONTEMPORARY HISTORY OF ISLAMIC COUNTRIES

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

ISL001

Academic Year of enrolment:

2024

Year of supply:

2025/2026

Degree:

Course of 2nd Cycle Degree in CULTURAL HERITAGE: ARCHAEOLOGY AND HISTORY OF ART

Disciplinary Sector:

CONTEMPORARY HISTORY

Location:

CHIETI

Credits:

Programme Year:

Cycle:

Second semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

108

Prerequisites:

Students who have not followed the course of this discipline in the previous degree will find useful information in the volume by A. Bausani, L'islam, Garzanti

Objectives

The teaching contributes to the learning objectives of the Degree course, in particular along the following lines:
Knowledge and understanding
in-depth knowledge of historical and social research methods concerning the contemporary Islamic world. Consolidation of the skills of analysis and comparison of sources relating to the history of the Muslim world in the context of European and global history.
ability to apply knowledge and understanding:
ability to develop written texts, reports and individual and / or group research with the use of the main IT tools for data management and telematic communication.
Autonomy of judgment:
ability to include the disciplinary contents of the course within the broader framework of the competences of the Degree course, activating skills of comparison, connection and organization of analysis that insert the contemporary history of Islamic countries to the issues related to the study, enhancement, conservation and management of cultural heritage also in different geographical and cultural areas.
Communication skills:
Students will be invited to work in teams to develop and present a study or research project, using IT tools and specific language skills.
Learning ability:
the course contributes to the preparation of students on the methodologies of research and historiographic analysis necessary to access higher education courses, such as PhD programs or specialization schools both nationally and internationally.

Contents

The course aims to provide students with knowledge of the fundamental features of the contemporary history of the Islamic countries of the Mediterranean area from the nineteenth century to today through three analytical perspectives:
1. the chronological perspective, providing students with the coordinates for orienting themselves in the periodization of Islamic history also in relation to the periodization criteria used for European history;
2. the global perspective through which the student will be able to place the historical events of this region in the broader European and world international context;
3. the comparative cultural perspective through which the student will be able to understand the cultural specificities of countries with an Islamic majority and the specificities of Arab-Islamic culture, art, literature in relation to European culture.
Some insights of the course will be dedicated to the following topics:
1. the study of modernization processes and the transformation of Islamic institutions in the contemporary age (caliphate, national states in the Turkish-Arab area);
2. cultural relations between the Islamic world and Europe with particular reference to the phenomenon of Orientalism in European art and culture;
3. the relationship between archeology and colonialism in the territories of North Africa and the Middle East.
4. Gender issues in the Arab-Islamic culture.
5. Inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue between Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Extended Syllabus

Reference books
1. Marcella Emiliani, Medio Oriente. Una storia dal 1918 al 1991, Roma-Bari, Laterza or Peter Mansfield, A History of the Middle East, Penguin

2. Andrea Riccardi, Mediterraneo. Cristianesimo e Islam tra coabitazione e conflitto, Milano, Guerini, 2014 or Bernard Lewis, Europe & Islam, AEI

Suggested readings:
Simona Troilo, Pietre d'oltremare. Scavare, conservare, immaginare l'Impero (1899-1940), Roma-Bari, Laterza or Jane Lydon, Uzma Z. Rizvi,
Handbook on Postcolonial Archaeology, Left Coast Press, Introduction, plus three chapters
Amin Maalouf, In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong, Arcade
Roy, Olivier, Holy Ignorance: When Religion and Culture Part Ways, Oxford University Press

Recommended Bibliography

1. Marcella Emiliani, Medio Oriente. Una storia dal 1918 al 1991, Roma-Bari, Laterza or Peter Mansfield, A History of the Middle East, Penguin

2. Andrea Riccardi, Mediterraneo. Cristianesimo e Islam tra coabitazione e conflitto, Milano, Guerini, 2014 or Bernard Lewis, Europe & Islam, AEI

Roy, Olivier, Holy Ignorance: When Religion and Culture Part Ways, Oxford University Press

Teaching Methods

Lectures; educational visits to archives, libraries and sites important to the discipline; exercises, group work, seminars with sector experts.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

The final assessment consists of an oral exam on the entire syllabus. The aim is to assess the students’ skills and in particular their understanding of the issues discussed during the course, their knowledge of the bibliography in the reading list, the correct command of the specific language as well as of critical and methodological abilities. The grading scale ranges from 1 to 30 with honours (cum laude): 1-17 fail, 18-21 sufficient, 22-24 fair, 25-27 good, 28-29 very good, 30-30 with honours (cum laude) excellent.

Contacts/More Information

The syllabus is the same for those students who do not attend lessons.
The course will be held in the 1st semester. Seminars will be held both in the first and second semester.
Students with disabilities are most welcome.
The teacher is available for guidance and tutoring for foreign students (English, French, Arabic languages)

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

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