The course discusses different aspects of the mosque including its physicality and urban context, its place in the geographical imagination, and its role as a vehicle to articulate power, enforce authority, and establish community and belonging. It explores the mosque in relationship to a variety of texts from Sunni, Shi'a, and Ibadi traditions (in translation) including architectural inscriptions, dynastic and city histories, legal texts on prayer and endowments, topographical texts, political texts on governance and authority, travelogues, and literary works.