Architectural Boundaries and the Body

Key information

Status
Module not running
Module code
15PARH063
FHEQ Level
7
Credits
15
Department
School of Arts & Department of History of Art and Archaeology

Module overview

This module concerns the perception and traversal of spatial boundaries in the Muslim world.

Although it is a commonplace to assert that architecture is the art of setting boundaries, the body is where boundaries are first set and where inside and outside are first perceived, at the moment of birth. The module, then, will commence with the body and its culturally encoded relationship to society and its spaces. But it will also remain with the body, because only by way of the body are boundaries perceived and traversed. Therefore, even as the module considers different kinds of boundaries and their perception and traversal in the Muslim world, the question of gender must necessarily remain in the foreground: whose body is implicated and/or denied in the setting, perception, and crossing of these boundaries? Importantly, not all of these boundaries will be material and worldly, but immaterial and otherworldly; and not all them will be perceived and traversed via the sense of sight, but by the other senses, too, including the inner one of orientation. In view of the foregoing, a fuller, longer title for the module might be, “Crossing boundaries: readings in Muslim bodies, space, and place.”

Objectives and learning outcomes of the module

On successful completion of this module students will be able to

  • Understand themes, issues, and debates related to the study of architecture in general and Islamic architecture in specific.
  • Identify and compare different approaches to the study of Islamic architecture.
  • Assess critically the materials and themes explored in the module.

Additionally, students will be knowledgeable of a variety of types of spatial boundaries in the Muslim world, with an emphasis having been placed on these boundaries’ bodily perception and transgression. They will have seen the value of engaging with Islamic architecture as a body-related phenomenon; and they will have the wherewithal to pursue their own engagements in a theoretically informed dynamic that is gender-aware, culturally based, and society specific.

Workload

  • Lectures: 1 hour per week  
  • Seminars: 1 hour per week 

Method of assessment

  • 1,000-word essay (worth 30% of marks)
  • 2,000-word essay (worth 70%)

Disclaimer

Important notice regarding changes to programmes and modules