Unity and Diversity: Intellectual Contacts between Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the Medieval World of Islam
October 22, 2018 – 7:30 p.m.
University of MiamiWhitten Learning Center, Room LC-170
FEATURING SABINE SCHMIDTKE
PROFESSOR OF ISLAMIC INTELLECTUAL HISTORY IN THE SCHOOL OF HISTORICAL STUDIES AT THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY, PRINCESTON UNIVERSITY
In the world of Islam from the 9th through 15th centuries, Muslims, Jews, and Christians shared a common language (Arabic) and read the same theological, philosophical, legal, and scientific books. A continuous, multi-dimensional exchange of ideas, texts, and forms of discourse became the norm. Professor Sabine Schmidtke discusses cases of this intellectual symbiosis and demonstrates ways in which scholarship can contribute to shaping a less biased and more refined public opinion about one of today’s hottest areas of conflict—the Middle East.
Sabine Schmidtke (Habilitation, University of Bonn; D. Phil., Oxford University), the author, editor, and translator of numerous path-breaking works, is currently working on the history of Islamic thought from the 13th to the 19th century. She is also engaged in a comprehensive study of the Muslim reception of the Bible, a topic on which she has published extensively over the past years.
