"Re-mapping the Renaissance: Exchange between Early Modern Islam and Europe"

NEH Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers
June 13 through July 2, 2010
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
http://www.crbs.umd.edu/programs/re-mapping_the_renaissance/index.html

APPLICATION DEADLINE: March 2, 2010

NEW THIS YEAR: Two seminar spaces are reserved for current full-time graduate
students in the humanities.

The Center for Renaissance & Baroque Studies at the University of Maryland
is
pleased to announce "Re-mapping the Renaissance: Exchange between Early
Modern Islam and Europe," a 3-week summer seminar for college and university
teachers funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. From June 13
through July 2, 2010, selected scholars will explore the ways in which the
European Renaissance was shaped by interaction between Europe and the rest of
the world, in particular, the world of Islam.

In the course of this exploration of Islam's contribution to the shaping of
the European Renaissance, we will investigate networks of constant exchange
between Islamic and European courts, rulers, merchants, travelers, diplomats,
and artists during the early modern period. The seminar will demonstrate that
the trade conducted by the Italian city-states was not exclusively an
inheritance from the Roman Empire. Rather, it also stemmed from the
civilizations of the Mamluk and Ottoman empires and their thriving systems of
foreign trade. Those trading networks, in turn, became conduits for the
export not only of products but also of ideas, scientific discoveries, and
artistic exchange. This seminar will investigate that legacy.

Participants will enjoy lectures, seminar discussions, and visits to the
Library of Congress and the National Gallery of Art, both in Washington DC.
Time has been set aside each week so that participants may pursue their own
reading and research and consult with the directors on their own projects.
The seminar will model the use of scholarship to support teaching.

The program will be co-directed by Judith Tucker, Professor in the Department
of History and Director of the Master of Arts in Arab Studies Program at
Georgetown University in Washington, and by Adele Seeff, Director, Center for
Renaissance & Baroque Studies, University of Maryland. Tucker and Seeff
have
worked across disciplines and are aware of the challenges this sort of
endeavor presents for scholars. Both are interested in cross-disciplinary
research and teaching. Both are committed to fostering scholarly communities
in which seminar participants feel supported and nurtured. In addition, three
exceptional scholars will present sessions on cartography, art history,
material goods, and travel narratives.

Complete details about eligibility and the application process are available
at the program's website,
http://www.crbs.umd.edu/programs/re-mapping_the_renaissance/index.html.

We hope that you will add your voice, your research, and your teaching
experiences as we embark upon this journey of discovery.

For additional information, contact the Center for Renaissance & Baroque
Studies at crbsumd.edu.