On definitions of Islamic art and Princeton University

During late summer to early fall, most universities advertise for new faculty positions. This year, Princeton University Department of Art and Archaeology is looking for an Assistant Professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology. While I applaud the decision, I am a little perplexed by the requirement that the new faculty member be an expert “in the fields of Islamic art, architecture, or archaeology, with a specialization in any aspect of the discipline focused on a period prior to 1750.”

Princeton is not alone in this type of request. There are other universities I will not name here who specify this year and in recent years that a prospective Islamic art history professor research “medieval” art, however this word can be defined, one assumes.

Why the wording? Perhaps the requirements reflect the desire that art historians write papers based upon museum objects and special collections manuscripts. Perhaps the words reflect a department culture and where the bulk of funding or student interests are right now, though the last two points are debatable.

However, I remain troubled by the request because I assumed that in 2019, Princeton would be a leader in academia and not reinforce – albeit unintentionally -- what I think many within my field would argue is a negative, Orientalist valuation of Islamic art and architecture. In this viewpoint, what is generally classified as modern, or mid to late modern, and contemporary art and architecture are essentially ignored. Also ignored are the roles of modern and contemporary Islamic art, artists, and architects in the global art market and history of urban planning and architecture, even as their work may be destroyed due to ongoing conflicts or sheer ambivalence.

Therefore, with their wording of the job announcement, it is as if Princeton University wants us to believe that Islamic modern and contemporary art, crafts, and architecture are somehow removed from earlier artistic expressions and artifacts and/or somehow lessor in quality, therefore not worth the effort. 

If this is not the case, perhaps the powers that be will revise the announcement for a new Assistant Professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology. I for one hope to see a request for someone who has demonstrated s/he researches the early years up and through the twentieth if not the twenty-first centuries. I also hope that Princeton and other universities can write a job announcement that allows their future professor to work on material culture that illuminates the roles of Christians, Jews, Hindus, and persons of other faiths who lived in lands governed by Muslim rulers. I have always looked to Princeton as a leader in academia, so I have every confidence they will not disappoint.