Crossing Cultural Spaces: Islam and the West in Arts and Sciences

FAIN: MB-50009-10

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN 55455-2009)
Nabil I. Matar (Project Director: June 2010 to December 2011)
Jeane H. Kilde (Co Project Director: February 2011 to December 2011)

To support an academic forum and program development workshop exploring continuities between cultural and intellectual traditions in the Islamic worlds and Western civilization.

The proposed forum explores ways in which Muslim contributions to literature, arts, science, and architecture have influenced and become foundational to Western humanistic and scientific expressions. Our goal is to draw scholarly and public attention to the many ways in which Muslim and Western humanities exist in dialogue with each another. We propose a scholarly conference accessible to the public. Audience members will benefit from a dramatic performance and discussion of an influential twelfth-century Muslim text, along with examinations of the concept of the humanities and the epistemologies at the heart of Muslim contributions to the sciences. The forum further explores shared cultural spaces through the influence of Islamic architecture in the United States, art and aesthetics, and contemporary use of digital technologies for humanistic and artistic purposes. Following the conference, we will hold a workshop of faculty and community partners to develop a national program.