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Plague in the Premodern Islamic World

Module description

In the module, you will examine the history of the encounter with plague of people living in Islamic societies from 610 CE to 1800 CE. Using a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, you will study how these societies understood the plague, what was the impact of plague on these societies, and how these societies responded to repeated bouts of plague. You will also engage with and learn how recent recovery of the plague bacillus from archaeological remains can help improve our understanding of the history of the plague pandemics, and how studying the history of past pandemics can help our understanding of modern pandemics. The module is designed for graduates who have no prior knowledge of the subject area, as well as for those who would like to deepen their existing knowledge on the topic. The subject knowledge skills as well as personal and key skills are developed via readings, lectures, class discussion, group work, essays, and student presentations.

Module aims - intentions of the module

In the seminars, you will be presented with cutting-edge research carried out currently in both genomics and Islamic studies with regards to plague through the assigned readings. The module decolonises the history of the plague pandemics by placing and centring the experience of those living in Islamic societies—societies that have the longest, continuous written record of their experiences with plague starting from the 8^th century (recording experiences from the seventh) to the end of the 18^th century (and beyond). It will thus provide you with a better sense of what is deemed “normal” and what “exceptional” when considering human responses to pandemics. The module also engages critically with how we think about the boundaries between religion, science, medicine and magic, and what kinds of things factor into how states respond to such disasters based on the tools at their disposal. Finally, you will also become aware of how social and cultural practices and assumptions factor into modern scientific research and public health recommendations, and how these assumptions are rooted in specific colonial, Orientalist histories.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate extensive knowledge of key issues, critical themes, and concepts related to plague, Islamic medicine, and the intersections between medicine, religion and the occult.
• 2. Critically assess current research in the field of plague studies

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Place issues in a wider perspective/context.
• 4. Source primary and secondary data relevant to specific issue areas.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Think and work independently at an advanced level.
• 6. Build and defend a sustained and sophisticated argument, both in written form and verbally, using complex primary and secondary materials (i.e. development of critical and analytical skills).

Syllabus plan

The module will cover some or all of the following topics:

• The historical claims of the new science of plague
• Plague before Islam
• Early Islamic encounter with plague and religious understandings
• Early medical understandings of and responses to plague
• Gauging the socio-economic impact of the first pandemic
• New understandings of the origins of the second plague pandemic
• Recovering new outbreaks through use of modern genomics
• Revised medical understandings and responses to plague
• Plague treatises and scholarly disputes on causes of plague
• Socioeconomic impact of second pandemic
• Role of the occult in understanding and treating plague
• Plague, Empire and state policies

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Ibn ?ajar al-?Asqal?n?, The Merits of the Plague, trans. Joel Blecher and Mairaj Syed (London: Penguin, 2023).
• Stuart Borsch, The Black Death in Egypt and England: A Comparative Study (University of Texas Press, 2005).
• Birsen Bulmu?, Plague, Quarantines and Geopolitics in the Ottoman Empire (Edinburgh UP, 2012).
• Michael Dols, The Black Death in the Middle East (Princeton University Press, 1977)
• Justin Stearns, Infectious Ideas: Contagion in Premodern Islamic and Christian Thought in the Western Mediterranean (Johns Hopkins UP, 2011).
• Nükhet Varl?k, Plague and Empire in the Early Modern Mediterranean World: The Ottoman Experience, 1347–1600 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).

Key words search

Medicine, plague, Black Death, Islamic Medicine, magic, decolonising the curriculum, interdisciplinarity, Medical History, Medical Humanities, Medieval History