Professor Hoffman Seeks Islamic Understanding
Kathy Hoffman, professor and chair of the department of Fine Arts and Music, has been taking a first hand look at the Middle East, as she prepares to introduce an Islamic art and architecture course in the fall.
Prompted by world events and the situation in the Middle East, Hoffman decided to give students the chance to understand Islamic art and culture. First, she set out to learn more herself.
A grant from the Boston-based Whiting Foundation enabled Hoffman to visit Turkey, Egypt, and Morocco. In January, she went to Jordan with a program sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges and the Council of Overseas Research Centers, with funding from the U.S. Department of State.
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| Professor Kathy Hoffman models a gold embroidered, Palestinian wedding dress during her visit to Amman, Jordan. |
Her three-week study at the American Center of Oriental Research, in Amman, Jordan, included lectures and visits to museums and archeological sites such as Petra and Jerash. The group of 12 fellows also ate dinner with a Bedouin family in their home.
Evenings in the library gave Hoffman a chance to study Islamic art history. Her students’ reading will include books she encountered in her travels, including an explanation of Islam written by Jordan’s Crown Prince Hassan, the younger brother of the late King Hussein.
Hoffman rounded out her study travel with a late-June trip to Grenada, Spain, at her own expense. There she visited Alhambra and saw other Islamic influences on the west.
“I want to understand various aspects of Islam in various parts of the world,” she said. “I hope, in some small way, this course will contribute to the search for world peace and tolerance.”
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