History and Society of Islam and the Arab World I [ LGLOR1531 ]

The server iCampus enables the student to obtain the detailed plan and the modalities of the course etc. It also offers an important aspect of imposed on-line activities.

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An introduction to the history of the Arab world in the first five centuries.

Alternately with LGLOR1532, this course deals with the following themes:

- the dawn of Islam;
- the period of the Râshidûn;
- the battle of Siffîn and the martyrdom of Karbalâ';
- the Umayyad of Damascus;
- the `Abbâsid revolution, political and ideologica;
- the `Abbâsid revolution, scientific and cultura;
- the overall fragmentation of power;
- Andalus.

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, online 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 history of the Arab-Muslim world.

An oral exam on the course matter and a discussion on the individual research work ( around 2500 words on a  chosen subject  with relevance to the course) Continuous appreciation of the students' participation both in presentation and activities on iCampus.

Though the course takes the form of lectures, it is intended to offer a large place to discussion. Each lecture will start with a systematic exchange of views on the imposed texts. The lectures also will provide the occasion for regular discussions on the state of  advancement of the individual researches. The course will be illustrated by the reading in translation of texts from the period.

This course aims to provide students of the first cycle with a structural framework for the founding period of the history of the Arabo-Islamic civilisation (from 600 AD to around 1100AD). Even though the course intends to cover chronologically and geographically the major aspects of this history, there is also an insistence on those elements with long-term implications, either from a political of cultural point of view: such as the discord concerning the Caliphate, the decentralisation of power, the practice of patronage, ,the multicultural aspects of society, etc. Special attention is paid to the process whereby philosophy and other rational sciences were incorporated into the corpus of Islamic thought.

A selective reading list will be supplied at the beginning of the course; It includes:

- an extended bibliography;
- methods of research work;
- a list of articles and extracts of monographs or collected works, the study of which is a necessary prelude to the lectures.

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