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Intellect

BYU professor speaks at Metropolitan Museum of Art symposium

Eric Dursteler of Brigham Young University’s Department of History recently spoke at a special symposium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

At the April 22 symposium in conjunction with the exhibit “Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797,” Dursteler discussed how individual Ottomans and Venetians of the time positively coexisted with one other. He suggested that the distinctions commonly used to describe the early modern Mediterranean, such as Muslim and Christian, mask much more complex realities of the nature of cultural interaction.

The “Venice and the Islamic World, 828–1797”exhibit focuses on why many pieces of Venetian artwork and literature drew inspiration from the Islamic world.

Dursteler earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from BYU and his doctorate from Brown University. He spent the 2006-2007 academic year in Florence, Italy, preparing a book, “Renegade Women: Conversion and Boundaries in the Early Modern Mediterranean.”

For more information, contact Eric Dursteler at (801) 422-5260.

Writer: Aaron Searle

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