Cultures & Contexts: Muslim Spain

(4 Credits)

In medieval Spain we see how members of the three Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—lived in close contact over a sustained period of time (711-1615). Sometimes peaceful and productive, at other times contentious and destructive, in this time of coexistence people of different faiths participated in parallel and overlapping cultural activities, drawing on the same poetic and philosophical traditions, creating similar liturgies, and preferring the same kinds of art and architecture. We examine the role that religion played in the creation of culture and its artifacts through close examination of primary sources, including historical chronicles, treaties, short stories, poetry, liturgy, art, and architecture. Students learn to pose and answer questions about the impact religion, religious expression, and coexistence in a multiconfessional society.