Debates Surrounding the Marvelous in the Medieval Arabo-Islamic World

Hosted by the Humanities Center and graduate fellow, Briana Wipf. Respondents include Sahar Hosseini (History of Art & Architecture) & Ruth Mostern (History).

Scholars of the medieval Arabo-Islamic world accounted for marvelous phenomena through a variety of lenses. Indeed, claiming that their understanding of marvels and wonders used only a religious rubric misses the nuance of the conversations that occurred around seemingly inexplicable animals, natural phenomena, and strange people. I will provide perspectives from popular genres, including geography, natural philosophy, and travel accounts, that demonstrate a lively debate about the place of the human within a world teeming with marvels.

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