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Call for book chapters on Synagogues of the Islamic WorldDeadline: June 15, 2014With more than three millennia of history, the Jewish people have beenboth a minority and an influential community of long standing withinthe Islamic world, from Morocco to Indonesia.  The hundreds ofsynagogues that are located in this part of the world are noted fortheir rich and unique architecture.  These buildings were constructedand developed under the influence of local trends or stylisticmovements, while also representing the visual culture of eachparticular Jewish community. Whether constructed in a predominantlyMuslim society or preserved in its original form from pre-Muslimperiods, each synagogue embodies the application of architecture tothe articulation of cultural identity.A general study of synagogues throughout the Islamic world shouldallow art and architectural historians to draw conclusions regardingexpressions of faith, power and desire in Muslim societies, and theformal and theoretical qualities of these structures in Islamicsocieties.  Further, the architecture of synagogues revealsrelationships between the architectural forms associated with Islamiccultures and Jewish readings of architectural tradition.  Thedevelopment of these structures in Islamic cities is related tomultifaceted classifications of synagogues as holy places, culturalcenters, or even residences, as well as to the complexities of theJewish population as an integrated, but sometimes, non-homogenouscommunity.  The facades of synagogues reflect the degree of freedomthe Jews have within their local Muslim community, whereas interiorswere complex overlays of local and regional elements, forms, andornaments, and religious symbols.This book aims to explore the design and development of synagogues inthe Islamic world by examining the physical and non-physical linksbetween city and synagogue.  This book will include papers thatexamine spaces created by and for Jews in an area under the politicalor religious control of Muslims, as well as constructed before theadvent of Islam.  Chapters will clarify how the architecture ofsynagogues responded to contextual issues and traditions, or how a newcontext influenced a historically-established design.Submissions will discuss how synagogues reflect the culture of theJewish minority at macro and micro scales, from the city to theinterior.  They can also study patterns of development of thesynagogues in urban contexts and in connection to Muslim quarters andurban monuments such as mosques and shrines.  The contributions may bebased on the analysis of case studies of archival and historicalaccounts, or formal and spatial analyses of synagogues in their urbancontext. Papers that deploy new methodological, theoretical, andcomparative approaches to the analysis of synagogues in the Muslimworld are especially welcome.  Case studies from Indonesia, Malaysia,Central Asia, Africa, and the Middle East are welcome.Please submit proposals or inquiries to:  Dr. Mohammad Gharipour,School of Architecture and Planning, Morgan State University,Baltimore, mohammad@gatech.edu