INSTITUTIONAL HISTORY OF ISLAMIC SOCIETIES

The History of the Institutions of Muslim Societies course is part of the related and complementary educational activities of the Degree Course in Asian and Mediterranean Languages, Cultures and Societies (LICSAAM).
The course contributes to the achievement of the educational objectives of the degree course in the area of historical-cultural and humanistic competences.
The course aims at the definition and historical analysis of some institutions that characterise the relationship between man and the environment in Muslim societies, discussing some key moments in the environmental history of the Middle East.

Students will acquire a broad knowledge of the environmental history of the Middle East in Islamic times and the role played by certain institutions distinctive (such as waqf and hima) to Muslim societies in the historical evolution of the relationship between man and the environment.
Furthermore, the course aims to provide the necessary skills to understand the secondary literature on the subject, so that students will be able to independently conduct in-depth studies on their own topics of interest.

No specific skills are required.

Elements of environmental history, climate and environmental geography of the Middle East and North Africa, Case studies of environmental management institutions (waqf, hima, hospitals). History of the human-environment relationship in selected case studies (the irrigated landscape, the Iraqi marshes, the alluvial environment in Egypt). Social and institutional responses to environmental crises (earthquakes, epidemics, floods). Key points of environmental history in the Islamic period (the 'green revolution', the medieval climatic anomaly).

Giorgio Vercellin, Istituzioni del mondo musulmano. Einaudi (2002)

In addition to the reference text, students may choose one of the following readings as a starting point for the final examination.

Richard W. Bulliet. Cotton, Climate, and Camels in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment in World History. Columbia University Press (2009)
Mohammed El Faïz. Les maîtres de l'eau : Histoire de l'hydraulique arabe. Actes Sud (2005)
John R. McNeill. Mountains of the Mediterranean: An Environmental History. Cambridge University Press (1992)
Alan Mikhail. Nature and Empire in Ottoman Egypt: An Environmental History. Cambridge University Press (2011)
Anna M. Gade, Muslim Environmentalisms: Religious and Social Foundations. Columbia University Press (2019)
Sayyed Hossein Nasr. An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines. State University of NY Press (1993)

The final examination will consist of an oral discussion on the course topics. Students may choose one of the above-mentioned choice readings as a starting point for the oral examination.

Lectures, class discussions

Italian

oral

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Natural capital and environmental quality" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development