Conferences and debates
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The history of Morocco through its cities
October 24, 2025 12:00 p.m.
GRANADA
Auditorium of the Casa del Chapiz, School of Arabic Studies (Cta. del Chapiz, 22, Albaicín, 18010 Granada).
12:00 p.m.
Free entry until the event’s capacity is reached.
Conference in English with simultaneous translation into Spanish.sh.
The conference series Aula Árabe Universitaria 7 is coming to the city of Granada with this session by Amira Bennison, a professor of Islamic World History at Cambridge University). Don’t miss this opportunity.
Over the centuries, Morocco has been an essential location within the history of Islamic North Africa, where African, Moorish and Mediterranean influences have all intermixed. The cities there reflect the many interactions and transformations which set the pace of change the Islamic world throughout this region.
During this conference, Amira K. Bennison will be exploring the strategic and political importance of city-building for Muslim powers in the Maghreb, from the era of the conquest to the medieval period. Through various examples, she will analyze how architecture, urban planning and urban life help us understand Morocco’s history specifically. The talk will also address the interactions which took place between indigenous ideas and urban prototypes from Arabia and other parts of the Middle East, evoking a new urban imaginary that replaced ancient cities with centers founded by Muslims.
Organized with the cooperation of the University of Granada bachelor’s degree program in History. In representation of that degree program and the EEA, respectively, participating and presenting the speaker will be Javier Albarrán, a professor of that degree program who specializes in Medieval History and Arab-Islamic Studies, and Elsa Cardoso, a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the CSIC’s School of Arab Studies, who specializes in the history of Al-Andalus and Medieval Islam.
The event will be broadcast live on YouTube in Spanish and English.
Amira K. Bennison
Amira K. Bennison is professor of Islamic World History at Cambridge University) and a fellow of Magdalene College. Her research focuses on the history and culture of the Islamic West (above all the Maghreb and Al-Andalus), as well as the ways in which Islamic societies interacted with and were perceived by the world at large. She has written extensively on subjects such as urban culture, power and legitimacy in the medieval Maghreb. Some of her most notable publications include: The Almoravid and Almohad Empires (Edinburgh University Press, 2009), The Articulation of Power in Medieval Iberia and the Maghreb (OUP/British Academy, 2014) and The Great Caliphs: The Golden Age of the ‘Abbasid Empire (I.B. Tauris, 2009).
During this conference, Amira K. Bennison will be exploring the strategic and political importance of city-building for Muslim powers in the Maghreb, from the era of the conquest to the medieval period. Through various examples, she will analyze how architecture, urban planning and urban life help us understand Morocco’s history specifically. The talk will also address the interactions which took place between indigenous ideas and urban prototypes from Arabia and other parts of the Middle East, evoking a new urban imaginary that replaced ancient cities with centers founded by Muslims.
Organized with the cooperation of the University of Granada bachelor’s degree program in History. In representation of that degree program and the EEA, respectively, participating and presenting the speaker will be Javier Albarrán, a professor of that degree program who specializes in Medieval History and Arab-Islamic Studies, and Elsa Cardoso, a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the CSIC’s School of Arab Studies, who specializes in the history of Al-Andalus and Medieval Islam.
The event will be broadcast live on YouTube in Spanish and English.
Amira K. Bennison
Amira K. Bennison is professor of Islamic World History at Cambridge University) and a fellow of Magdalene College. Her research focuses on the history and culture of the Islamic West (above all the Maghreb and Al-Andalus), as well as the ways in which Islamic societies interacted with and were perceived by the world at large. She has written extensively on subjects such as urban culture, power and legitimacy in the medieval Maghreb. Some of her most notable publications include: The Almoravid and Almohad Empires (Edinburgh University Press, 2009), The Articulation of Power in Medieval Iberia and the Maghreb (OUP/British Academy, 2014) and The Great Caliphs: The Golden Age of the ‘Abbasid Empire (I.B. Tauris, 2009).
