Islam would forbid any religious iconography of the abrahamic god. They are not asking that Islamic law be broadly enforced merely that Mohammed not be displayed.
we do not live in a cultural vacuum Muslims are frequently harrassed and displaying Mohammed is often done as a form of deliberative hate speech. Which is the broader context here
That absolutely happens, but that clearly isn't the case here. You say often and not always, so I'm curious what case you would think depictions of Muhammad are not intended as hate speech, if not an example like this?
I think in the context of the west there is an inherent tone of dismissal of Muslim beliefs in showing Mohammed due to our cultural context.
It's like white people saying the N-word you just shouldn't. The fact Muslim artists drew it (in an entirely different cultural context mind I'm not sure how they would feel about this usage of their art) is like saying you were quoting a song.
culture is living and art draws it's meaning from the context of it's environment
It’s like white people saying the N-word you just shouldn’t. The fact Muslim artists drew it (in an entirely different cultural context mind I’m not sure how they would feel about this usage of their art) is like saying you were quoting a song.
If she went up and drew Muhammad on the board, this analogy would make sense. To me, displaying a work by a Muslim is more like playing a song by a black artist containing the word than it is saying it yourself.
culture is living and art draws it’s meaning from the context of it’s environment
I completely agree with this. What I don't see, is why the only environment that matters is that this course is taught in the West and not an Islamic culture. There are other environments and cultural contexts than just geography or general religious background of a culture/place. Isn't academia an environment? Isn't a discussion between people of different cultures and religions itself an environment? I don't mean to get too abstractly philosophical with this, but you are very insistent that this Western context is so dominant that no other contexts matter. I cannot agree that this context is so much more important than any other, that discussion and depiction of offensive things can never overcome that. Nothing is that absolute.
Yes, that is a good point. I thought about mentioning The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn similarly. The thing is, both Harper Lee and Mark Twain were white, so I thought it was more apt to use an example of the art being made by a member of the marginalized group, because this illustration was by a Muslim.
I just don't consider academia a distinct environment in terms of hatred. I think you are just as likely to hear a professor say something racist or islamophobic as a mechanic and you wouldn't expect me to consider a chop shop a seperate environment for this context
How likely a person in a profession is to do something bigoted really isn't what I meam by context. It's about intention and purpose, and about respect. Using offensive things specifically for education, conveyed respectfully, without any intention of hurting people, and giving people a choice to not participate is a different context from a professor saying something racist, even if they are both on a university campus. You seem to think of context only in terms of location, whether it's the West generally or in the university. I don't think you understand my point if that's how you approach this. The discussion between the non-Muslim professor, the non-Muslim students, and the Muslim students, for the purpose of art history and learning about religious iconography, is context as much as what building and what part of the world they are in.
Islam would forbid any religious iconography of the abrahamic god. They are not asking that Islamic law be broadly enforced merely that Mohammed not be displayed.
we do not live in a cultural vacuum Muslims are frequently harrassed and displaying Mohammed is often done as a form of deliberative hate speech. Which is the broader context here
You clearly didn't read any of the other context.
That absolutely happens, but that clearly isn't the case here. You say often and not always, so I'm curious what case you would think depictions of Muhammad are not intended as hate speech, if not an example like this?
I think in the context of the west there is an inherent tone of dismissal of Muslim beliefs in showing Mohammed due to our cultural context.
It's like white people saying the N-word you just shouldn't. The fact Muslim artists drew it (in an entirely different cultural context mind I'm not sure how they would feel about this usage of their art) is like saying you were quoting a song.
culture is living and art draws it's meaning from the context of it's environment
If she went up and drew Muhammad on the board, this analogy would make sense. To me, displaying a work by a Muslim is more like playing a song by a black artist containing the word than it is saying it yourself.
I completely agree with this. What I don't see, is why the only environment that matters is that this course is taught in the West and not an Islamic culture. There are other environments and cultural contexts than just geography or general religious background of a culture/place. Isn't academia an environment? Isn't a discussion between people of different cultures and religions itself an environment? I don't mean to get too abstractly philosophical with this, but you are very insistent that this Western context is so dominant that no other contexts matter. I cannot agree that this context is so much more important than any other, that discussion and depiction of offensive things can never overcome that. Nothing is that absolute.
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Yes, that is a good point. I thought about mentioning The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn similarly. The thing is, both Harper Lee and Mark Twain were white, so I thought it was more apt to use an example of the art being made by a member of the marginalized group, because this illustration was by a Muslim.
I just don't consider academia a distinct environment in terms of hatred. I think you are just as likely to hear a professor say something racist or islamophobic as a mechanic and you wouldn't expect me to consider a chop shop a seperate environment for this context
How likely a person in a profession is to do something bigoted really isn't what I meam by context. It's about intention and purpose, and about respect. Using offensive things specifically for education, conveyed respectfully, without any intention of hurting people, and giving people a choice to not participate is a different context from a professor saying something racist, even if they are both on a university campus. You seem to think of context only in terms of location, whether it's the West generally or in the university. I don't think you understand my point if that's how you approach this. The discussion between the non-Muslim professor, the non-Muslim students, and the Muslim students, for the purpose of art history and learning about religious iconography, is context as much as what building and what part of the world they are in.