Edited Volume on Non-Islamic Sacred Sites In Muslim Territories

Call for Book Chapters

Sacred architecture offers valuable insights into the priorities and prerogatives of the world’s great religions, while revealing cultural and political attitudes within and between those faiths. Of particular interest in the current global political climate are the relationships between architectural forms associated with Islam and those of non-Muslim communities. Whether constructed by non-Muslims in a predominantly Muslim society or preserved in their original forms and/or functions after the arrival of Islam, it is in the structures and spaces of non-Muslims that one may find some of the most potent articulations of cultural identity.

We invite papers which examine structures and spaces created by and for non-Muslims in predominantly Muslim societies from the emergence of Islam in the 7th century to the present day. Papers may focus on a single monument, a building type, a particular city or region, a faith other than Islam, or any other topic relevant to the historical presence of non-Muslim sacred architecture in Islamic cultures. The papers could clarify how the new architecture responded to the contextual issues and traditions or how the new context influenced a historically established design. They could also discuss the pre-existing monuments preserved after the arrival of Islam; religious monuments constructed in an area under the political or religious control of Muslims; and monuments constructed by non-Muslims who arrived from elsewhere in regions under Muslim control.

The editors are specifically looking for papers on the following topics:

1. Temples and churches in Islamic countries in South-east Asia such as Indonesia and Malaysia
2. Buddhist, Hindu, and Zoroastrian temples and churches in Central Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran
3. Synagogues in the Islamic world
4. Temples in Islamic regions of China
5. Medieval churches in Islamic Spain, Morocco, and Tunis

Please send your inquiries and 300-word abstracts to Mohammad Gharipour (mohammadgatech.edu) and Stephen Caffey (scaffeyarch.tamu.edu) by July 20, 2011.