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Intensive summer course: Al-Andalus, problems and perspectives.

From July 25, 2016 until July 30, 2016Monday to Saturday, from 9:00 to 19:00 (30 hours)
CóRDOBA
Casa Árabe (C/ Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9, Cordoba) Monday to Saturday, from 9:00 to 19:00 (30 hours)
English

Course FULL. Waiting list available until the 30th of April.

Specialists from different Spanish academic institutions will guide a select group of students into the fascinating history of al-Andalus in a series of seminar-style intensive classes in English in July.

Taught in English, this Intensive Summer Course organized by Casa Árabe and the CSIC, with the collaboration of the European Research Council and the Kohepocu Research Project, under the scientific direction of Maribel Fierro (ILC-CCHS, CSIC), will take place from Monday 25th to Saturday 30th of July in Casa Árabe Cordoba. On Saturday morning, class will be held in the Umayyad palatine town of Madinat al-Zahra’. The course will be completed by two archeological workshops on Wednesday and Friday morning.

The choice of the Casa Árabe in Cordoba as the venue for the course hardly needs any explanation. It is housed in the beautiful Casa Mudejar, a 14-16th century building whose restoration received the World Heritage City Award 2011 from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports. 

The Casa is located at a three-minute walk from the Mosque-Cathedral. The Friday Mosque of Cordoba is not only an extraordinary example of medieval Arab architecture and a popular tourist destination, it is at the same time the embodiment of the civilization of al-Andalus, of the power and cultural hegemony it exercised over centuries, of its fall and of its persisting appeal and legacy in our days.

Moreover, 2016 is the 1300 anniversary of Cordoba as capital of al-Andalus. In 716 al-Hurr, the governor (wali) of al-Andalus -a province of the Damascene Umayyad caliphate- moved the administrative capital from Seville to Cordoba, then becoming the political, economic and cultural center of Muslim Iberia. The anniversary is a special moment to revisit the history of the town in its changing political contexts, urban development and intellectual achievements.

The course will explore the political, social and economic aspects of the history of al-Andalus, examine the intellectual and artistic developments and achievements that the civilization of al-Andalus reached, and look at its various contemporary meanings and legacies. Students will be familiarized with various types of sources, textual and material remains, and the relevant scholarship in order to reach a better understanding of al-Andalus.

Intensive summer course: Al-Andalus, problems and perspectives.
The course is directed at university students and scholars who – regardless of their specialization - want to become familiar with the most relevant issues related to the history of al-Andalus. It aims at guiding the participants to the wide range of scholarly research on al-Andalus. 30 students will be selected from among the applicants (for the application procedure see below).  
Students are not required to have knowledge of Arabic or any other language except English; for those who are proficient in Arabic, guidance in the Arabic sources will be provided as a complement. 

A basic bibliography of studies in English will be provided once the selection of students has been made and registration has been finalized. The students selected are expected to become familiar with that bibliography before the beginning of the course. A more comprehensive bibliography, including the most relevant studies in a variety of languages, will be provided during the course.

In each class unit (2 hours), the teachers will provide a brief outline of the topic dealt with and devote the rest of the class to reading texts (in English translation) illuminating some salient aspects of the respective topic. 

As the course is intensive and text-oriented, students are required to be present at each class. An attendance certificate will correspondingly be provided. For those interested in producing a research paper, assignments will be given and upon submission (within six months) an examination certificate can be obtained.
Antonio Almagro Gorbea, School of Arabic Studies (EEA), High Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Granada
Rafael Blanco Guzmán, University of Cordoba 
Mercedes García Arenal, Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean (ILC), CSIC, Madrid Alejandro García Sanjuán, University of Huelva
Maribel Fierro Bello, ILC-CSIC, Madrid 
Eduardo Manzano Moreno, Institute of History, CSIC, Madrid
Juan Pedro Monferrer Sala, University of Cordoba 
Julio Samsó Moya, University of Barcelona
Antonio Vallejo Triano, Fine Arts Museum, Cordoba
Those interested are requested to send an e-mail message to infocordoba@casaarabe.es, indicating in the message subject line: Intensive Summer Course Al-Andalus. They need to provide a brief introduction about the candidate’s profile, including first and last names (maximum 300 words), and a letter expressing their interest in the course. The deadline is March 30th 2016. Those 30 selected will be contacted by April 30th 2016.

Once confirmation of admittance is received, registration must be completed using the application form that will be sent. The fee for the course is 200 euros.


Casa Árabe, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas.


European Research Council (ERC) and Kohepocu Research Project