Material Culture of Islam in Europe. Narratives around the premodern Mediterranean

This MOOC aims to present some key aspects of the Islamic material legacy in Europe. Through the architecture, objects, works of literature, paintings, etc. it will show how Islamic culture was present in pre-modern Europe. Furthermore, this course wants to show how this Islamic presence has been historically perceived, how art has contributed to construct figures of otherness and perception in both Christian and Islamic Europe. The MOOC will address the mobility of people, knowledge, artifacts, visual and formal elements across political and religious borders, and it will focus on the consequences (cultural, artistic and scientific) of this mobility. It will also expose how this material culture has been perceived (or not) as part of a common heritage in Europe and how it has been instrumental in constructing complex narratives of identity and otherness.