School of Architecture and Planning

Dear all, for those of you who still didn't, could you please email me your term papers so that I could assemble them in one file as we did with the weekly assignments?
Thank you and happy holidays!
Alla

McGill Institute of Islamic Studies Graduate Student Symposium Call 
for Papers: Critical Theory and Islamic Studies

McGill University’s Institute of Islamic Studies Student Council 
(MIISSC) invites abstracts for scholarly papers to be presented at a 
graduate symposium in 29 & 30 April 2011. The conference will engage 
with the intersection of critical theory and Islamic Studies. We 
define critical theory very broadly as problematizing normative 
approaches to the study of Islam in its multiple social, political, 
literary, religious, and historical dimensions. By Islamic Studies, we 
refer to the interdisciplinary study of Islamic thought, culture, and 
society in western academia. The goal of the symposium is to allow 
graduate students and junior scholars to present original unpublished 
research.

DEADLINE : Please submit a formal abstract (350-500 words) by January 
7, 2011 date by email to miisscsymposium@gmail.com<mailto:miisscsymposium@gmail.com
. Participants will be notified of their acceptance by February 7, 
2011.

Some of the themes and questions we seek to address include, but are 
not limited to the following:
 * Postcolonial theory and Islamic Studies, where do we go from here?
 * What contribution does Islamic Studies make to critical theory?
 * Insider vs. Outsider
 * Secular vs. faith-informed approaches to the study of Islam
 * Construction of authority in Islamic texts, societies, etc.
 * Islam and the ‘periphery’ * Marxist approaches to Islamic Studies
 * Feminist approaches to Islamic Studies
 * Foundational sources in Islamic Studies
 * Race and Gender as categories of analysis for Islamic Studies
 * Can we Queer Islamic Studies?
 * Potentialities for the study of Islamic art, architecture, and 
literature
 * Non-Muslim communities in Muslim societies

Dear all, The assignment for our next class (Wednesday, Nov. 10) has been revised.  You do not need to present an image along with your definition of Islamic architecture.  Instead, each student will read his/her definition (one paragraph maximum) aloud in class, and we will then have a group discussion.  Based on the discussion, each student will either refine his/her definition, or we will try to come up with a collective definition.  Those of you who did not present last week will present their "national style" building at the beginning of the class.  

Dear All,
Please come to the next class with a choice of presentation date: either December 1st or 8th.  There will be 6 presentations on the 1st and 7 on the 8th.   Presentations are limited to 15 minutes sharp plus a few minutes of discussion.
Please als remember that the final deadline for submission of your book report is Friday, December 10th at 5:00 pm.  No incomplete will be granted unless you have a truly overwhelming condition (excluding anything related to class or studio requirements or overlaps) that prevents you from turning in your paper on time.

Dear all, please note that there will be no class on November 24 because some of you might be travelling on this day.
All the best, Alla