Recorded December 9, 2022:

“Perspectives on Early Islam”

Prof. Fred M. Donner, University of Chicago
Prof. Garth L. Fowden, University of Cambridge
Prof. David S. Powers, Cornell University

Prof. Fred M. Donner is Peter B. Ritzma Professor Emeritus of Near Eastern History at the University of Chicago. His early research focused on relations between pastoral nomads and settled society in the Near East, and over the years has shifted to Islamic historiography, Qur’anic studies, Arabic papyrology, and the origins of Islam.  His major publications include The Early Islamic Conquests (Princeton University Press, 1981); Narratives of Islamic Origins: the beginnings of Islamic historical writing (Darwin Press, 1997); and Muhammad and the Believers: at the origins of Islam (Harvard University Press, 2010); he has also authored several dozen scholarly articles on early and medieval Islamic history, Qur’anic studies, etc.

Prof. Garth L. Fowden is Sultan Qaboos Professor Emeritus of Abrahamic Faiths at the University of Cambridge. In response to current debates about the nature and definition of late Antiquity, the relation of early Islam to the late antique world dominated by Iran and East Rome, and the acculturation of Muslim communities in contemporary Europe, Professor Fowden is engaged in writing a large-scale history of the Afro-Eurasian First Millennium CE. He assigns particular prominence to the development of rabbinic Judaism, patristic Christianity and early Islam, but also of other religions such as Buddhism and Manicheism. Greek philosophy and medical science, and Roman law, are integral to the project. His interpretative essay entitled Before and after Muhammad: The First Millennium refocused (2014), is designed as a prelude to Exiting Antiquity: Afro-Eurasian perspectives on the First Millennium, to be published by Allen Lane.

Prof. David S. Powers is Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies and Adjunct Professor of Law at Cornell University. His research focuses on the rise of Islam; and the history of Islamic law and its application in Muslim societies. Powers is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Islamic Law and Society. He is the author of Studies in Qur’an and Hadith: The Formation of the Islamic Law of Inheritance (1986); Law, Society, and Culture in the Maghrib, 1300-1500 (2002); Muhammad is Not the Father of Any of Your Men: The Making of the Last Prophet(2009); and Zayd (2014).

The Circle is convened by Parvaneh Pourshariati, Associate Professor of History at CityTech, CUNY.  The Circle for Late Antique and Medieval Studies is based at the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at the Graduate Center, CUNY.

Recorded October 27, 2022:

“From Ancient Seaport to Medieval Crossroads: One Era Passes, Another Begins”

A lecture by:

Richard Bulliet

Professor Emeritus, Middle Eastern History

Columbia University

This is the inaugural lecture for the Circle for Late Antique and Medieval Studies, which seeks to engage scholars working on the late antique and medieval periods of Eurasia and Afro-Asia in an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural dialogue.

Prof. Bulliet’s lecture will focus on the degree of continuity between late antique and the medieval period and across geographies. The transportation infrastructure of the southern portion of the antique world shifted from maritime trade and liquid cargoes to camel caravans and dry cargoes. This shift signaled the passage from Late Antiquity to Medieval times. The chronology of the shift correlates with the geographic spread of one-humped camel herding, which accelerated after the Arab conquests.

Richard W. Bulliet is Emeritus Professor of History at Columbia University. His publications concentrate on the history of Islam (Islam: The View from the Edge and Cotton, Climate, and Camels in Early Islamic Iran) and the history of premodern transportation (The Camel and the Wheel and The Wheel: Inventions and Reinventions). He is also the lead author of the eighth edition of a world history textbook (The Earth and Its Peoples) now in preparation. During his career at Columbia, he directed The Middle East Institute for twelve years and taught Middle East History, History of Technology, and History of Domestic Animals.

John Torpey, Presidential Professor of History and Sociology and Director of the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies, will give a short introduction.

The Circle is convened by Parvaneh Pourshariati, Associate Professor of History at the New York City of College of Technology, CUNY.