Art Historical Background After the Umayyad Dynasty was ousted from Syria by the conquering Abbasid Dynasty they made their way across North Africa to a new home in Andalusia, Spain. The Umayyad prince, Abd al-Rahman I, recreated aspects of his previous capital in his new home, Córdoba. In 786, after Abd al-Rahman conquered the Visigoths, he transformed [...]
Category: Islam
The Diversity of the Islamic World
One of the major themes running through out summer NEH program was tracing the diversity within the Islamic World. We had a chance to look through a variety of art forms to really examine if the term "Islamic World" is even appropriate. For example, what does a Mongolian shepherd have in common with an oil [...]
Travel Trips: Dressing for a Mosque
As a non-Muslim woman, visiting a mosque for the first time can be a little nerve-racking if you are unsure of the dress code. Last year I had the pleasure to visit two mosques, one more traditional and one small Sufi mosque. The Sufi mosque had no dress code and people showed up with all [...]
Student Series! Veiled
Fashion in one of the major facets of self-expression. It is the way in which we tell the world who we are, how we feel, and how we want to be received. Our identity is a large part of how we dress, and how we dress is a large part our identity. The veil Muslim [...]
A Reverence for Words: Understanding Muslim Culture through the Arts Reading List
Next week starts my 2- week summer teacher education program, A Reverence for Words: Understanding Muslims Cultures through the Arts. This will be my second National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute; last year I went to the Religious Worlds of New York Institute and this year I's excited back in the city that never [...]
