Digital History: Mapping Islamic Slavery
Slavery has been an integral part of many cultures and civilizations as a social, cultural, and economic system. Emerging in a culture where slavery was accepted as an institution, Islam recognized and regulated it. Defined both as person and property by the Islamic law, slaves were used as servants, soldiers, concubines, and labourers in Muslim societies. This course will examine the origins of the Islamic interpretation and regulation of slavery as well as its development in a variety of Muslim societies and states in comparison to Atlantic and Eurasian practices of slavery. It will be shown that Islamic attributes of slavery were not static and differed geographically and temporally. In addition to comparing these attributes and following the genealogies of change and continuity in the institution of slavery in a comparative manner, this course will also explore several unique phenomena of slavery in Islamic history such as slave rulers and elites, slave soldiers, and the system of devshirme.
This course is designed as an interdisciplinary one, combining history, geography, and information science through application of geospatial information systems (GIS) in historical research. Application of GIS in history is a relatively new approach that offers new venues for us to explore, analyze, and visualize historical research. Pointing out the differences and similarities in practice of slavery in the aforementioned geographical regions and cultures, this course will provide students with a strong understanding of global interconnectedness and cultural interactions in the mediaeval, early modern, and modern eras. As slavery and human trafficking remain two of the major human rights concerns even today, the course will not only tackle issues about the historical development and evolution of slavery, but also help students understand how and why slavery still continues to exist in our modern-day world defined by globalization, technology, and globally accepted virtues of human rights.
Course objectives:
To understand differences, similarities, and interconnectedness in slavery in the Islamic world, Atlantic world, and Eurasia, as well as the complexities of various forms of slavery.
To understand the development of slavery and its evolution from the seventh through the nineteenth centuries.
To question about the assumption that we live in a world free from slavery.
To integrate and visualize historical research by creating and querying geospatial data and conceptualizing historical issues in a spatial manner.
To use ESRI® ArcGIS™ to explore and analyze historical events and periods.
To learn how application of new digital tools can improve the profession of history and adds new insights to historical research.
To understand how reality is created by GIS through mapping.
To identify geospatial data such as attributes, position, spatial relations, and data tables.
Required Readings:
Ian N. Gregory and Paul S. Ell, Historical GIS: Technologies, Methodologies, and Scholarship (Cambridge U. Press, 2008).
Ian N. Gregory, A Place in History: A Guide to Using GIS in Historical Research (2003)
Weekly readings (chapters, journal articles, online material, etc) posted on Angel.
Course Evaluation: