The Alhambra and Spain's Islamic Past

FAIN: EH-50442-14

Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (Champaign, IL 61801-3620)
D. Fairchild Ruggles (Project Director: March 2014 to May 2016)

A four-week institute for twenty-five college and university faculty to examine changing views of Spain's Islamic past through architectural, visual, and literary representations of the Alhambra.

"The Alhambra and Spain's Islamic Past" uses the magnificent 13th-14th-century Alhambra palace complex in Granada to study Spain's engagement of its diverse cultural and religious history. We will begin with the palaces, gardens, and courtyards remaining from the Islamic period and observe how over time the Alhambra was variously represented in traveler's accounts, prints, paintings, and photographs as Orientalist fantasy, picturesque playground, and most recently as celebrated national monument. Through this history, this Institute explores the culturally complex history of Muslim-Christian relations in Europe. More broadly, we consider the relationship between nationalism and memory--how a nation like Spain frames its Islamic past--and the importance of architectural monuments to the making of community identity.

Media Coverage

College of Arts & Sciences Art History Professor Selected as NEH Summer Scholar (Media Coverage)
Publication: University of Miami news bureau
Date: 7/21/2015
Abstract: description of faculty member's participation in 2016 NEH Summer Institute
URL: http:// www.as.miami.edu/news/news-archive/college-of-arts--sciences-art-history-professor-selected-as-neh-summer-scholar.html

Austin College Facebook page (Media Coverage)
Publication: Austin College Facebook page
Date: 2/17/2016
Abstract: Media coverage of participation of NEH Summer Scholar in 2016 Summer Institute
URL: http://www.facebook.com/groups/155213701202145/

Colby-Sawyer College Professor of Humanities Thomas Kealy has been selected (Media Coverage)
Publication: Colby-Sawyer College web page
Date: 2/17/2016
URL: http://www.colby-sawyer.edu/news/humanities-summer-scholar.html

"Faculty member rejuvenated by scholarly adventure in Spain" (Media Coverage)
Publication: MacEwan University news bureau web page
Date: 2/17/2016
Abstract: Description of faculty member's participation in 2016 NEH Summer Institute
URL: http://www.macewan.ca/wcm/MacEwanNews/SUMMER_MARCO_KATZ

Professor M. Elizabeth (Betsy) Boone Receives International Recognition (Media Coverage)
Publication: University of Alberta, Art and Design web page
Date: 7/15/2015
Abstract: Description of 2015 NEH Summer Scholar's experience in the Summer Institute
URL: http://www.artdesign.ualberta.ca/Art_and_Design_news/2015/July/ProfessorMElizabethBetsyBooneReceivesInternationalRecognition.aspx

Associated Products

The Alhambra and Its Gardens: Reflections of the Past (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: The Alhambra and Its Gardens: Reflections of the Past
Abstract: Museum lecture on the Alhambra palace and its gardens, to accompany an exhibition on the same theme.
Author: D. Fairchild Ruggles
Date: 08/10/2016
Location: Aga Khan Museum in Toronto

Beyond Vision: Embodied Senses in Islamic Gardens (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Beyond Vision: Embodied Senses in Islamic Gardens
Abstract: The talk -- the Norman and Roselea Goldberg Lecture in the Department of History of Art -- explored the sensory perception and ephemerality of the gardens of Islamic Spain as discernible in poetry, painting, and the gardens themselves.
Author: D. Fairchiuld Ruggles
Date: 03/31/2016
Location: Vanderbilt University, Nashville

Water and the Transformation of the Early Islamic Landscape (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Water and the Transformation of the Early Islamic Landscape
Abstract: Delivered for the Environment, Ecology and Islam series, the lecture explained how early Islamic gardens emerged from environmental conditions that demanded careful management of water.
Author: D. Fairchild Ruggles
Date: 04/01/2016
Location: Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Sound and Scent in Andalusian Gardens (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Sound and Scent in Andalusian Gardens
Abstract: Delivered for the Al-Bustan series "Words Adorned," this was a lecture about the senses in Andalusian gardens, specifically the ephemeral senses of sound and scent, as recorded in words in poetry and in images in a very few manuscripts and objects, and of course in the remaining gardens at the Alhambra, Madinat al-Zahra, and the Mosque of Cordoba.
Author: D. Fairchild Ruggles
Date: 11/03/2016
Location: Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA

Celebrating Islam in the Architectural Monuments of Modern Spain (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Celebrating Islam in the Architectural Monuments of Modern Spain
Abstract: An examination of how modern stewards of cultural heritage care for and interpret monuments of the past--specifically the Great Mosque of Cordoba and the Alhambra Palace in Spain.
Author: D. Fairchild Ruggles
Date: 01/06/2016
Location: University of Education, Bandung, Indonesia

L’Alhambra, forteresse méditerranéenne (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: L’Alhambra, forteresse méditerranéenne
Writer: D F Ruggles (interviewed)
Producer: RMC Productions and Kwanza
Abstract: A filmed interview about the Alhambra palace for a French television documentary, which aired in 2o21.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: http://https://www.linternaute.com/television/documentaire-l-alhambra-forteresse-mediterraneenne-p5330738/
Primary URL Description: web address of the television program
Access Model: on French public television
Format: Film

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