Foundation to Islamic Studies and Muslim Societies

Register for Foundation to Islamic Studies and Muslim Societies.

Islamic Culture Studies GR5000
Kathryn Spellman Poots
Tues 10:10am-12:00pm
Knox 207

This seminar provides students with an introduction to key concepts, theories and debates in Islamic Studies, broadly conceived. Required for students in the Islamic Studies Master of Arts program, this course is also suitable for graduate students in other departments who study the Middle East, South Asia and Africa or are interested in Islam. With weekly guest visits by faculty, Foundation offers students a unique opportunity to learn directly from scholars from across disciplines and schools at Columbia. Qualified undergraduates may register with permission of Kathryn Spellman. 

Kathryn Spellman is Visiting Associate Professor at the Middle East Institute and the Academic Program Director of the Islamic Studies Master of Arts (ISMA) program at Columbia. She is Associate Professor at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies at the Aga Khan University. 

What we CAN do when there's nothing to be done

On September 28, 2018, the Center for the Study of Social Difference is proud to present our anniversary symposium celebrating 10 years of CSSD and five years of Women Creating Change:

WHAT WE CAN DO WHEN THERE'S NOTHING TO BE DONE
Strategies for Change

This event features CSMS faculty member Lila ABU-LUGHOD and Ayse Gül ALTINAY, Sama ALSHAIBI, Carol BECKER, Farah Jasmine GRIFFIN, Judith BUTLER, María José CONTRERAS, Ricardo DOMINGUEZ, Masha GESSEN, Rema HAMAMI, Bernard HARCOURT, Saidiya HARTMAN, Marianne HIRSCH, Jean HOWARD, Mae NGAI, Juan Carlos RUIZ, Debarati SANYAL, Lyndsey STONEBRIDGE, Diana TAYLOR, Keeanga-Yamahtta TAYLOR, Jeanine TESORI

Open to the public, please register.
Registration will reopen on Sep 5th at noon.

The Forum at Columbia University, 605 West 125th St, New York, NY 10027

Upcoming: In the School of Wisdom: Persian Bookbinding, ca. 1575-1890

In the School of Wisdom: Persian Bookbinding, ca. 1575-1890

Monday, October 22, 2018 - Friday, March 1, 2019 (all day)
Butler Library, 535 W. 114 St., New York, NY 10027
Room/Area: Rare Book & Manuscript Library (6th Floor East) - Chang Octagon Exhibition Room

Following the introduction of lacquer-painting in the 15th century, bookbindings became a rejuvenated site for creative expression in Iran. ‘In the School of Wisdom’ presents over thirty examples, representing the diversity of the art as it developed from the late Safavid to Qajar eras and contextualizing it within a changing landscape of libraries and book culture.

Event Contact Information:
Jane Siegel
jrs19@columbia.edu

Upcoming: Ahmed Mater Speaks About His Mecca’s Journeys

Ahmed Mater Speaks About His Mecca’s Journeys
October 22nd,  6:00-8:00PM
612 Schermerhorn Hall
Reception to follow in the Stronach Center.

Physician turned artist, Ahmed Mater is one of the most significant cultural voices documenting and scrutinising the realities of contemporary Saudi Arabia. Forging an ongoing, complex mapping of the Kingdom, his practice synthesises and documents collective memories to uncover and record unofficial histories. The temporal and physical breadths of his research-led inquiries are sharpened by the incisive gaze of his conceptual works. With this scope, Mater imagines and forecasts possible prognoses for a land of unprecedented religious, social, economic and political influence.

This event is part of the series, "Disrupting Unity and Discerning Ruptures," organized by Avinoam Shalem, Riggio Professor of the History of the Arts of Islam in the Department of Art History and Archeology. His main field of interest concerns artistic interactions in the Mediterranean basin, migration of objects, and medieval aesthetics. He has published extensively on medieval Islamic, as well as Jewish and Christian art.