Forgetting the Arabs: Europe on the cusp of the Renaissance
Why was Islamic philosophy, once the epitome of Arab learning, eventually rejected by Muslims? And why, after assimilating it, did Europeans distance themselves from its formulators? This program seeks to understand the religious climate of the late...
Ulema and philosophers: faith vs. reason in Islamic Arabia
By replacing paganism with monotheism and tribal life with empire-building, the Arabs of the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties effected a complete paradigm shift in their worldview. This program studies the codification of Islamic law and assimilation o...
The Arabs make their entrance: Islam and empire
As the shadow of the Dark Ages fell across Europe, the scene for the advancement of Western civilization shifted to the Near East. This program charts the rise of the Arab empire, from its roots in the long-standing rivalry between the Byzantines an...
Once upon a time: Baghdad during the Abbasid dynasty
The victory of the Abbasids over the Umayyads signified much more than the replacement of one dynasty with another. With it, Islam saw the birth of a multiethnic concept of power, in which both Arab and non-Arab Muslims could share authority. This p...
From Arabic to Latin: the assimilation of Arab knowledge
As dissension mounted between the rival Arab dynasties in Baghdad, Cordoba, and Cairo, Christendom rallied to oppose the Muslims in Spain and Jerusalem. This program plots out the decline of the Empire of the Caliphate and the acquisition of Arab kn...