Roger M. A. Allen

Emeritus Professor of Arabic & Comparative Literature

School: Arts & Sciences
General Topic Areas: Arabic Literature & Culture; the Middle East; Islam

Sample Talk Topics or Titles:

A Thousand and One Nights: A Tale of Two Tale-Collections
A discussion of the two entirely separate versions of THE 1001 NIGHTS: one consisting of 258 Nights complete by the 14^th century; the other the “European version,” fostered by the frenzied interest that followed the translation of “the original” into French in the early 18^th century and “additions” made it to it, along with all kinds of cultural ramifications in art, theater, music, film, and so on…..
What We Owe to the History of Spain (illustrated)
An examination of the history of the Iberian Peninsula during the Islamic period (7^th-15^th cents.), illustrating the number of ways in which European culture and civilization were the beneficiaries of contact between Muslims, Jews, and Christians throughout the period—including medicine, mathematics, music, astronomy, poetry (troubadors), etc., not to mention the institution of the college.
Islam
An introduction to the religion, its principles, its history, and its current status across the world.
The Joseph Story: Genesis, the Qur-an, and Chartres Cathedral
An analysis of the ways in which the traditional story of Joseph and his brothers has been interpreted within different doctrinal and cultural contexts.