Educational Experience: The Art of the Khatt, A Brief Study in Islamic Calligraphy
Project Description
The project outlines a comprehensive lesson plan for an educational experience on Islamic calligraphy for a class visit to the New York Public Library. The primary audience for this workshop is undergraduate art history students; however, the content can be adapted for graphic design or fine arts students, high school learners, and young children studying Arabic. The lesson's objectives are to explore the techniques of Islamic calligraphy, understand its artistic and cultural significance, and engage students in creating their own calligraphy work. It integrates Common Core State Standards including critical reading, understanding diverse formats, and integrating information. The 90-minute session includes an introduction to Islamic calligraphy with an emphasis on the Naskh style through a slideshow presentation, viewing of collection materials like manuscript leaves, and a hands-on calligraphy activity. Students receive resources such as waterproof India ink, bamboo reed pens, and an activity handout. Evaluation of the session's success involves student feedback through an online questionnaire which is linked in the lesson plan.
My Role
I am the single author of this work.
Methods
The project was inspired by my participation in the "Educator Open House: Arts of Asia & Arts of the Islamic World" at the Brooklyn Museum, particularly a workshop titled "Art-Making: Arabic Calligraphy" led by artist Elinor Aishah Holland. Using this workshop as my template,I picked an institution to house the workshop and began researching their holdings of Islamic manuscripts. The next steps involved outreach, developing learning objectives, and aligning the course with relevant Common Core State Standards. I compiled a list of educational institutions and identified professors teaching relevant courses, preparing an email template to facilitate outreach. The lesson plan was crafted, detailing necessary materials and their costs, structuring the duration of activities to engage students effectively, and designing welcome packets. A Canva presentation with notes was created to guide the session visually. To assess the workshop's impact, I developed a student questionnaire via SurveyMonkey and prepared an email for instructors, encouraging student feedback.
Rationale
The workshop is designed with flexibility to cater to a wide audience range, from college students to young children, demonstrating a deep understanding of diverse user communities and their varied information needs. The integration of oral presentations, hands-on or tactile activities, and visual aids ensures that information is accessible across different learning styles. By tailoring the workshop to support the needs of educators, the project aligns closely with the academic interests of its target audience. By choosing Islamic calligraphy as the workshop theme and offering a beginner's tutorial to the craft, the project recognizes the artistic and historical significance of calligraphy in Islamic culture. The comprehensive research into the New York Public Library's Islamic manuscripts and the development of an in-depth lesson plan provides students with the skills to effectively utilize the Library’s resources and explore an underutilized collection. The project shows a commitment to engaging with the user community and improving the educational experience through a student questionnaire and follow-up emails to instructors, aimed at evaluating the session's success.