Arab Culture I

The course is divided into three parts
1- Introduction to the Arab World: students will be introduced to the birth and formation of Arab culture in its historical, political, literary and religious aspects.
2- Arab-Islamic culture: introduction to key concepts of religious culture in Arab societies.
3- The contemporary world: the different currents of contemporary Islam will be reviewed, starting from the invention of modern Islamic identities between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, taking into account the historical developments that have influenced the main cultural innovations and political transformations: European colonialism, the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the birth of Arab nationalism, and developments of the second half of the 20th century.