One of the requirements of the Information and Literacy skills course SSK 1212 is to write a research paper by the end of the semester. In order to keep track of the brainstorming of ideas, the data collection, the analysis and all the different phases they have gone through, students were asked to create a Research Blog.
The general theme that our class agreed on is Culture. My teammates and I have decided to look at Culture from the perspective of religions. We want to explore the influence of religions on traditions, arts, lifestyles,...Personally, I will work on the Islamic culture under the Ottoman Empire, while my teammates will focus on the other Abrahamic religions (Judaism and Christianity)
Why did I choose the Ottoman Empire as an illustration of the Islamic culture and not the Umayyad or Abbassid ones? Perhaps it is a subjective choice. Indeed, I have a great admiration for arts and the architecture of the Ottoman Era, and Istanbul has certainly something to do with it.
But most important, I think it is tremendously important to study the Ottoman culture since it lays between two different worlds: the Eastern Islamic and the Western Christian world. What is more, it is well known that under the reign of Ottoman Emperors, the three religions have coexisted. The contact between them has certainly led to an uncomparable diversity.
Throughout the research process, I will try to explore aspects of the Ottoman culture including architecture, tapestry making, language, social life and behavior..., but I will also try to understand its interaction with and the influence of other neighboring cultures.