Post by Maggie on Sept 11, 2013 9:40:54 GMT -6
This rather large collection of books was given to our library (and some 900 other libraries) as part of a project of the National Endowment for the Humanities (and the usual suspects--the American Library Association, the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University, Oxford University Press, and Twin Cities Public Television. My university is one of 125 selected to hold a series of talks all year long centered around the theme of each book. This isn't just a university effort. The local public library and various mosques around town, the Islamic Student Assoc. are all involved. It is a very big effort to build some understanding of how interconnected the world actually is and always has been.
The first talk next week will take as its starting point a book called "When Asia was the World : Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks Who Created the "Riches of the East." Since I am actually a medievalist by training, this has me happier than a cat with a fresh supply of tuna. Just to give you an idea of what the program entails (and how diverse the books are that the grant from the NEH paid for) here are some of the titles of the books that will guide the discussions:
The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance
The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain
The full list of titles is also available with links to the descriptions of the books. There is something for just about everyone there.
There is a list of sites that will participate in the year long series of events. If it seems like it might be of interest to you, maybe there is a site near you that is hosting the events.
The first talk next week will take as its starting point a book called "When Asia was the World : Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks Who Created the "Riches of the East." Since I am actually a medievalist by training, this has me happier than a cat with a fresh supply of tuna. Just to give you an idea of what the program entails (and how diverse the books are that the grant from the NEH paid for) here are some of the titles of the books that will guide the discussions:
The House of Wisdom: How Arabic Science Saved Ancient Knowledge and Gave Us the Renaissance
The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain
The full list of titles is also available with links to the descriptions of the books. There is something for just about everyone there.
There is a list of sites that will participate in the year long series of events. If it seems like it might be of interest to you, maybe there is a site near you that is hosting the events.
