Reimagining the Islamic Art Lesson Plan of AHTR

Art History Teaching Resources remains a valuable tool for art historians, who are often tasked with teaching courses that span wide geographical regions and long time periods to a broad, college-wide student population. As an educator with more than twenty years of experience teaching such courses, I particularly appreciate the specific teaching strategies, sample case studies, and slide presentations included in each plan. My contribution to this session will propose a pedagogical intervention to the Islamic Art lesson plan. For colleagues specializing in other fields, a ninety-minute session on Islamic Art is especially useful, as the subject can feel overwhelming given its fourteen centuries of visual culture spread across multiple continents. However, the current plan could be further developed to address several areas: incorporating diverse perspectives within Islam and Islamic art, highlighting the intertwined histories of Islamic art with the arts of Europe, Asia, and beyond, and exploring its legacy within local contexts through field trips.