History 213 - Law & Society in the Pre-modern Islamic World

This course offers an introduction to law and society in the Islamic world with a focus on the period from around 1500 to the early 1800s. It highlights the importance of Islamic law’s formations within early modern Muslim empires, like those of the Ottomans, Mughals, and Safavids, as well other parts of the globe. Developments in Islamic law and society in this period are crucial not only for better understanding the history of sharia or the Islamic world, but for better understanding law, state, and society writ large. After an introduction to the key actors and concepts of Islamic law, the course examines themes including law and state power; property & wealth; commerce; non-Muslim subjects of Muslim rulers; and women, gender, and sex. Meets twice weekly.

Spring semester. Professor Ghazarian.

How to handle overenrollment: HIST majors, then to first-years, second-years, and so on.

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Close analysis of historical evidence, which may include written documents, images, music, films, or statistics from the historical period under study. Exploration of scholarly, methodological, and theoretical debates about historical topics. Extensive reading, varying forms of written work, and intensive in-class discussions.