Experimenting with the Past: Cultural Heritage Connections in the Gulf and Western Indian Ocean

(4 Credits)

How can we better understand humanity's relationship with the sea? This course applies interdisciplinary and experimental approaches to historical, archaeological and social evidence from the Bronze Age to the present to answer this question. Through analysis of sites, objects and narratives students will explore how this maritime past manifests in the heritage of the UAE and the region. The course will examine the Arabian Gulf and Indian Ocean as a case study for interrogating the complex human relationship with- and interdependence on- the sea throughout history and in the present. In particular, the class will focus on two periods of significant maritime expansion in the Gulf and Indian Ocean. First, it will explore the earliest origins of long-distance maritime trade in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, and then the expansion of maritime trade routes along the 'monsoon wind systems' in the Early and Middle Islamic periods, as examples of humans' ambitious engagement with their environment.