Dr. Lucas is Associate Professor of Islamic Studies in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies (MENAS). Dr. Lucas' research explores the creative process by which individual Muslim scholars composed works in the genres of law, hadith, and Qur’anic commentary during the classical period of Islamic civilization. Dr. Lucas has spent significant time in Yemen, Iran, and Lebanon.
In this course, students take a humanistic disciplinary perspective to explore the cultural products of the pre-modern Middle East and answer questions about its historical development. Using primary sources in translation and secondary scholarship, students will explore the context of the rise of Islam; the process of conversion and expansion across the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia; the crystallization of Shi'ism and changing notions of religious authority; and the impact of Turkish migrations and Mongol conquests. They will become familiar with major genres of pre-modern Middle Eastern literary, religious, and scientific writings, and use techniques of close reading to answer questions about those texts' ideological positions and contexts.
Origin and development of Sufism and its impact on Muslim and non-Muslim worlds.
Origin and development of Sufism and its impact on Muslim and non-Muslim worlds.
