World Without End

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Would you like to cultivate a deeper understanding of the relationship between the West and the Middle East? This course is an introduction to late medieval and early modern interactions between Europe and the Islamic world through historical travel narratives. Students engage with the shared histories of daily interaction between these regions and are exposed to the methodologies and paradigms driving scholarship on Europe’s pre-modern relationship with portions of Asia and the Middle East. Texts are used to explore episodes of conflict, mediation, reconciliation, trade, patronage, pilgrimage, captivity, conversion, apostasy and intellectual exchange. The course is of interest to students exploring the history of science, gender, sexuality, warfare, geography, economics, art history and Area Studies.