SEM 705 History of Christians in the Islamic Near East
A survey of the history and literature of the Christian communities in the world of Islam, beginning with the Christians in the world in which Islam was born and extending to the irruption of the military forces of the Latin West into the area in the eleventh century. The course highlights the works of authors who responded to the religious challenge of Islam in Syriac and Arabic. Islam has been in dialogue with Christianity from its inception. The lectures and readings follow this dialogue, on both sides, from the beginning in the seventh century to the experience of the Crusades.