Special Topics in Information: Comparative Information Traditions: Islamic Civilization

There is growing recognition that academic discourse and professional practice in library and information science (LIS) often promote values aligned with a Caucasian Eurocentric view of the world to the exclusion of Indigenous culture, racialized individuals, and non-European civilizations. This course, INF2409H: Special Topics in Information: Comparative Information Traditions: Islamic Civilization, seeks to expose students to an alternate knowledge tradition, namely that of Islamic Civilization. With a history spanning 14 centuries across an expansive geography, Islamic civilization has its own rich understanding of knowledge and long-standing practices related to libraries and books. In addition, it has an age-old relationship with the European knowledge tradition that includes historical cross-pollination between these traditions, and more recently, the colonial experience of Muslim societies.