Culture and Civilization of Islam and the Arab World II [ LGLOR2534 ]

The iCampus server allows the student to access the detailed plan of the course. It also provides an important facet of imposed course work on-line.

None.

An introduction to the history of rational thought in Islam.

Alternately with LGLOR2533, this course deals with the following themes:

- the movement of translation of ancient works;
- classification and organisation of the knowledge;
- the limits of human wisdom;
- the universality of the rational sciences in Islam;
- the scientific innovations in the first period of the 'Abbâsid caliphate;
- the conquest of wisdom in every field;
- Islam as a relay between the East and the West.

At the end of this course, the student will acquire some formal knowledge of the referential background. He will be initiated to the scientific approach in the field of modern studies, and will acquire the heuristic skill of using the main instruments for the study of this domain (dictionaries, encyclopaedias, bibliographies, monographs and articles, on-line resources). He will be able to carry out personal research on definite topics in this field, and to write an essay of limited dimensions on one aspect of the rational thought in Islam.

An oral exam on the course matter and a discussion  based on the bibliographical research (approximately 2500 words on a subject chosen for its relevancy to the course).  An appreciation of the individual participation at the lectures and seminars and of  activity on iCampus.

A mixture of lectures and seminars. Each lecture begins with an exchange of views on the texts read by the students. Each lecture will provide an opportunity to review the progress of the individual researches. Presentations will take be illustrated by texts from the classical period read in translation.

This course aims to initiate the students at Master level into the large scale scientific and philosophical questions of classical Islam. The student will examine the philosophic and scientific thought in Islam in the framework of the transmission of knowledge between classical antiquity and the Latin middle Ages with particular attention to the encyclopedias of classical Islam.

A reading list will be distributed at the beginning of the course. It includes:

- an extended bibliography;
- the methods to apply for the research;
- articles and parts of monographs or collected works the study of which is an obligatory prelude to the lectures.

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