1. Class Policies Class as Intellectual Community Participation Attendance Readings Final Project

2. Methodology How to Read a Primary Source? The Author Author-Audience Relation Audience Expectations Interpreting Silence Language Views and Conceptions

3. Two Scientific Revolutions Early Centers of Scholarship

4. Mapping the Field Recapping the Story

5. What is a center of scholarship? Places for learning Resources and institutions Intellectual communities

6. About Centers of Scholarship Attraction Intellectual Traditions Relation to power and authority Relation to other centers

7. Byzantine Centers Alexandria Ancient Alexandria Christianity Neoplatonism Ammonius Hermias and John the Grammarian

8. Umayyad Alexandria Islamic Conquest Role and Importance

9. Byzantine Centers Antioch Byzantine Antioch The School of Antioch Relation to Constantinople

10. Umayyad Antioch Islamic Conquest Life in a Frontier Fort

11. Umayyad Centers Damascus The Role of the Capital Court and Administration The New Mosque Early Translations

12. Umayyad Centers Basra and Kufa

13. Basra and Kufa N.B. The Case of Iraq Relation to the Capital Outposts of Arabic Culture The Politics of Translation

14. Mecca and Medina Special Status Relation to the Capital Role in the new Caliphate

15. Jerusalem Building Umayyad Jerusalem Role in the new Caliphate Success and Failure

16. Special Note Gundeshapur The Nestorian Shism Hellenestic Culture The School and the Hospital

17. Sassanid Centers Gundeshapur Nestorians in Islam Nestorians, Persians and Greek Role in Translation