Catalog of Courses for Middle Eastern Studies
Introduction to the sound and writing systems of Arabic, including basic sentence structure and morphological patterns. A combination of the direct, audio-lingual, proficiency-based, and translation methods is used. The format consists of classroom discussions of a certain grammatical point followed by intensive practice.
This intensive course begins with instruction in basic oral expression, listening comprehension, elementary reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills at the intermediate level. Part of the Summer Language Institute.
Introduction to the sound and writing systems of Arabic, including basic sentence structure and morphological patterns. A combination of the direct, audio-lingual, proficiency-based, and translation methods is used. The format consists of classroom discussions of a certain grammatical point followed by intensive practice. Prerequisite: ARAB 1010 or equivalent.
This intensive course begins with instruction in basic oral expression, listening comprehension, elementary reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills at the intermediate level. Part of the Summer Language Institute. Prerequisites: ARAB 1016 or equivalent.
This course is intended for students with native or near-native speaking ability in Arabic, but with little or no reading and writing ability in Standard Arabic (MSA). The course focuses on reading and writing Arabic and aim to help students to: (a) achieve control of the Arabic sounds, (b) be able to write and speak in MSA, (c) and express themselves clearly in written form on a variety of topics using learned grammar patterns and vocabulary.
This intensive course begins with instruction in basic oral expression, listening comprehension, elementary reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills at the intermediate level. Part of the Summer Language Institute.
This intensive course begins with instruction in basic oral expression, listening comprehension, elementary reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills at the intermediate level. Part of the Summer Language Institute.
Continues training in modern standard Arabic, with emphasis on speaking, comprehension, writing, and reading. The method of teaching primarily follows the proficiency-based approach to language learning. Prerequisite: for ARAB 2010: ARAB 1020 or equivalent, or instructor permission; for ARAB 2020: ARAB 2010 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
This intensive course begins with instruction in basic intermediate level expression, listening comprehension, reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills. Prerequistes: ARAB 1016 & 1026 or equivalent.
Continues training in modern standard Arabic, with emphasis on speaking, comprehension, writing, and reading. The method of teaching primarily follows the proficiency-based approach to language learning. Prerequisite: for ARAB 2010: ARAB 1020 or equivalent, or instructor permission; for ARAB 2020: ARAB 2010 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
This intensive course begins with instruction in intermediate level oral expression, listening comprehension, reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills. Prerequisites: ARAB 1016 , 1026 & 2016 or equivalent.
This course is for students with native or near-native speaking ability in Arabic, but with reading and writing ability equivalent to ARAB 1020. The course focuses on reading and writing Arabic. The goals of this course are to help students: (a) achieve a basic level of reading competency with rich vocabulary; (b) express themselves clearly in written Arabic on a variety of topics using learned grammar patterns and vocabulary. This course fulfills the college language requirement.
This intensive course begins with instruction in basic intermediate level expression, listening comprehension, reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills. Part of the Summer Language Institute.
Introduces students to spoken Arabic, with oral production highly emphasized. Prerequisite: ARAB 2020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
This course intends to introduce students to a variety of colloquial Arabic by enabling them to communicate with native speakers in the region where this variety is spoken. The focus will be on vocabulary and expressions used in daily life. Prerequisite: ARAB 1010 and ARAB 1020, or instructor's permission.
This intensive course begins with instruction in basic intermediate level expression, listening comprehension, reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills. Part of the Summer Language Institute.
This course is a continuation of ARAB 2256. The course intends to introduce students to a variety of colloquial Arabic by enabling them to communicate with native speakers in the region where this variety is spoken. The focus will be on the vocabulary and expressions used in daily life. Prerequisite: ARAB 1010, ARAB 1020, and ARAB 2256. or instructor's permission
This course intends to introduce the students to colloquial Levantine Arabic by enabling them to communicate in Levantine Arabic, the colloquial spoken in Syria, Lebanon, the Holy Land, and Western Jordan Prerequisite: First Year Arabic
This course intends to introduce the students to colloquial Levantine Arabic by enabling them to communicate in Levantine Arabic, the colloquial spoken in Syria, Lebanon, the Holy Land, and Western Jordan Prerequisite: First year Arabic and ARAB 0256/2256
The goal of this course is to increase the student's knowledge of the Arabic language and culture via a communicative-based approach, meaning that though the students will be expected to learn grammatical structures emphasis will be placed on the functional usage of the language and on communication in context. Prerequisites: ARAB 2020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
For students residing in the Arabic group in Shea House. Prerequisite: instructor permission.
The goal of this course is to increase the student's knowledge of the Arabic language and culture via a communicative-based approach, meaning that though the students will be expected to learn grammatical structures emphasis will be placed on the functional usage of the language and on communication in context. Prerequisites: ARAB 3010 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
Using a communicatively oriented, proficiency-based approach the course will focus on the communicative prodution skills (speaking and writing) in the language through a combination of interactive classroom activities, take-home assignments and group work. Emphasis will be on the development of these two skills. Students will also be introduced to aspects of the Arab culture to build cultural awareness and communicative competence.
Develops oral and written proficiency to an advanced level of fluency, with emphasis on speaking and writing. Prerequisite: ARAB 3230 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
The course aims to provide advanced training in developing linguistic and communicative skills in business Arabic. The business topics cover data & communication, finance, insurance, law & contract, research & production, marketing, transport, travel, meetings, and conferences. Instructor permission.
This course aims to introduce students of third-year and fourth-year Arabic to Arabic poetry and culture through classical and contemporary songs. Many Arabic songs are taken from poems and they reflect different literary trends: romantic, religious, patriotic, Sufi, and contemplative poems. We will explore these poems, their impact on the Arabic collective unconscious, and cultural influence when turned into songs.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of Arabic.
In this course students will develop a mastery of core items relevant to Modern Standard Arabic grammar, a mastery which will enable them to produce discreet, sophisticated sentences, as well as to compose paragraphs and essays, all while utilizing the grammar points covered in this class. Those interested in taking this course are required to have completed ARAB 2020 or equivalent, or to receive approval of instructor.
Students are introduced to twentieth-century Arabic fiction, and to the varied genres of prose including letters, memoirs, short stories, travelogues, and novels. Topics include autobiography, war and nation construction, fantasy, and political and sexual identity crises. Students become acquainted with different schools of modern Arabic literary criticism, and learn to analyze texts using critical analysis and specific theoretical terminology. Prerequisite: ARAB 3020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
The main goal at this stage is to reach a superior level of Modern Standard Arabic with due attention paid to all four language skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing in addition to culture. Acquisition of more advanced grammatical structures will take place primarily through directed in-class drilling, coupled with an emphasis on the functional use of language through communication in context. Prerequisite: ARAB 3020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
The main goal at this stage is to reach a superior level of Modern Standard Arabic with due attention paid to all four language skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing in addition to culture. Acquisition of more advanced grammatical structures will take place primarily through directed in-class drilling, coupled with an emphasis on the functional use of language through communication in context.
This course introduces students to modern Arabic drama from the early pioneers' period in the 20th century to the contemporary era. We will study different forms of this genre including: musicals, traditional, experimental, feminist, and social drama. Further, students become acquainted with different schools of modern Arabic literary criticism and learn to analyze dramatic texts using critical analysis and specific theoretical terminology. Prerequisites: ARAB 5830 or 5840, or instructor's permission.
In this course, we will examine the themes of love, war, and diaspora in the literature of the Lebanese writer, Hoda Barakat. Some of the topics that will interest us are: the role of the author as a witness to the Lebanese civil war, the challenges of rewriting history, recreating the homeland's image in diasporic locales, collective and individual memories and its role in trauma recall and testimony.
Students will gain insight and learn to appreciate some of the most influential "Arab" literary figures and some of the most celebrated classical Arabic prose masterpieces. Students will also broaden their critical and comparative perspectives with regard to some of the most important literary and cultural issues related to the overall poetics and politics of the Arabic-Islamic heritage. Prereq: ARAB 3020 or Instructor Permission.
This course explores the unduly studied corpus of Arabic writings that describes the encounters with and perception of the Other. Much effort will be devoted to investigate medieval and early modern Arab-Muslim views of the Other in a cross-generic selection of non-religious Arabic prose such as travelogues, diplomatic memoirs, captivity reports, marvels, folktales, literary debates/boasting, and poetry. Prerequisite: ARAB 3020
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of Arabic.
Independent Study in Arabic
The goal of this course is to increase the student's knowledge of the Arabic language and culture via a communicative-based approach, meaning that though the students will be expected to learn grammatical structures emphasis will be placed on the functional usage of the language and on communication in context. Prerequisites: ARAB 2020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
The goal of this course is to increase the student's knowledge of the Arabic language and culture via a communicative-based approach, meaning that though the students will be expected to learn grammatical structures emphasis will be placed on the functional usage of the language and on communication in context. Prerequisites: ARAB 3010 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
In this course, we will examine the themes of love, war, and diaspora in the literature of the Lebanese writer, Hoda Barakat. Some of the topics that will interest us are: the role of the author as a witness to the Lebanese civil war, the challenges of rewriting history, recreating the homeland's image in diasporic locales, collective and individual memories and its role in trauma recall and testimony.
Students will gain insight and learn to appreciate some of the most influential 'Arab' literary figures and some of the most celebrated classical Arabic prose masterpieces. Students will also broaden their critical and comparative perspectives with regard to some of the most important literary and cultural issues related to the overall poetics and politics of the Arabic-Islamic heritage.
The main goal at this stage is to reach a superior level of Modern Standard Arabic with due attention paid to all four language skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing in addition to culture. Acquisition of more advanced grammatical structures will take place primarily through directed in-class drilling, coupled with an emphasis on the functional use of language through communication in context. Prerequisites: ARAB 3020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
This course focuses on reading texts in Modern Standard Arabic of different genres.
This course aims to introduce students of third-year and fourth-year Arabic to Arabic poetry and culture through classical and contemporary songs. Many Arabic songs are taken from poems and they reflect different literary trends: romantic, religious, patriotic, Sufi, and contemplative poems. We will explore these poems, their impact on the Arabic collective unconscious, and cultural influence when turned into songs.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of Arabic.
Students are introduced to twentieth-century Arabic fiction, and to the varied genres of prose including letters, memoirs, short stories, travelogues, and novels. Topics include autobiography, war and nation construction, fantasy, and political and sexual identity crises. Students become acquainted with different schools of modern Arabic literary criticism, and learn to analyze texts using critical analysis and specific theoretical terminology. Prerequisite: ARAB 3020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
Emphasis on reading modern Arabic prose, and writing descriptive and narrative short essays. Prerequisite: ARAB 3020/5020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
Exposure to selected reading material in modern Arabic prose, and writing of short essays, summaries, and descriptive pieces in Arabic. Prerequisite: ARAB 5830 or instructor permission.
Examination of electronic (television and radio) and print (newspapers, magazines, periodic publications) Arabic. Prerequisite: ARAB 5530 and 5540, or ARAB 3010/5010 and 3020/5020, or instructor permission.
The course treats in depth aspects of Arabic Grammar. It enables leaners to produce orally and in writing samples of Modern Standard Arabic.
This course introduces students to modern Arabic drama from the early pioneers' period in the 20th century to the contemporary era. We will study different forms of this genre including: musicals, traditional, experimental, feminist, and social drama. Further, students become acquainted with different schools of modern Arabic literary criticism and learn to analyze dramatic texts using critical analysis and specific theoretical terminology. Prerequisites: ARAB 5830 or 5840, or instructor's permission.
New Course in Arabic Prerequisite: ARAB 3020 or equivalent, or instructor permission
Independent Study in Arabic.
In this course, we will venture into the fascinating words and worlds of premodern Arab-Islamic leisure and pleasure. We will focus specifically on the literary representation of and socio-cultural/theosophical debate on humor, pleasantry, wit, frivolity, eating, feasting, banquets crashing, dietetics, erotology, aphrodisiacs, sexual education and hygiene.
Introduction to the development and themes of modern Arabic literature (poetry, short stories, novels and plays). Taught in English.
A comprehensive overview of contemporary Arab women's literature, this course examines all Arab women's literary genres starting from personal letters, memoirs, speeches, poetry, fiction, drama, to journalistic articles and interviews. Selected texts cover various geographic locales and theoretical perspectives. Special emphasis will be given to the issues of Arab female authorship, subjectivity theory, and to the question of Arab Feminism.
The course explores the literary masterworks of some of the most celebrated prose authors of the Classical Islamicate World. Students will develop an appreciation for the development of the intellectual history of what may be called, not without reservation, the medieval and early modern Middle East (including North Africa, al-Andalus and Sicily).
The course will concentrate on cinemas of Egypt, the Maghrib (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) as well as Syrian and Palestinian films. It will examine major moments in the history of these cinemas and the political developments that have inevitably had a major influence on filmmaking in the region.
This course is meant to work with students on major works of Arabic literature in English translation
In this course we will focus specifically on the literary representation of and socio-cultural/theosophical debate on humor, pleasantry, wit, frivolity, eating, feasting, banquets crashing, dietetics, erotology, aphrodisiacs, sexual education and hygiene. We will organize the course around selected readings from a variety of premodern Arabic jocular, culinary and erotological literature available in English translations.
Introduction to the development and themes of modern Arabic literature (poetry, short stories, novels, and plays). Taught in English.
A comprehensive overview of contemporary Arab women's literature, this course examines all Arab women's literary genres starting from personal letters, memoirs, speeches, poetry, fiction, drama, to journalistic articles and interviews. Selected texts cover various geographic locales and theoretical perspectives. Special emphasis will be given to the issues of Arab female authorship, subjectivity theory, and to the question of Arab Feminism.
This course explores the literary masterworks of some of the most celebrated authors of the classical Islamicate world (500-1500). Drawing on both classical Arabic-Islamic and modern Western theories, we will further form comparative insights into the poetics and politics of the humanist topics encountered across our literary journeys into the rich corpus of Arabic-Islamic adab (belles-lettres).
The course will concentrate on cinemas of Egypt, the Maghrib (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia) as well as Syrian and Palestinian films. It will examine major moments in the history of these cinemas and the political developments that have inevitably had a major influence on filmmaking in the region.
An introduction to the pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and writing system of modern Israeli Hebrew. By the end of this sequence students have mastered the core grammatical principles of Hebrew, along with a basic vocabulary of 1000 words, and they are able to read and understand simple texts and carry out simple conversation. Includes material on Israeli culture, history, and politics.
This intensive course begins with instruction in basic oral expression, listening comprehension, elementary reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills at the intermediate level. Part of the Summer Language Institute.
Prerequisite: HEBR 1010.
This intensive course begins with instruction in basic oral expression, listening comprehension, elementary reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills at the intermediate level. Part of the Summer Language Institute. Prerequisite: HEBR 1016 or equivalent
This is the non-credit option for HEBR 1016.
This is the non-credit option for HEBR 1026.
First half of a year-long introduction to biblical Hebrew, using an innovative language-learning approach. Through communicative activities in an immersive environment, students acquire oral and aural capacities naturally, in Hebrew. These capacities enable students to internalize the language and thus achieve the overall course goal: read simple biblical Hebrew prose with immediate comprehension. No prerequisites.
Second half of a year-long introduction to biblical Hebrew, using an innovative language-learning approach. Through communicative activities in an immersive environment, students acquire oral and aural capacities naturally, internalize the language, and efficiently develop the ability to read biblical Hebrew prose with immediate comprehension. Students read the prose portions of the Book of Jonah and master basic Hebrew grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 1410 or the equivalent.
Continuation of the study of the fundamentals of grammar, with special attention to verb conjugation, noun declension, and syntactic structure, and their occurrence in texts which deal with modern Israeli culture and values. These texts, which include excerpts from newspapers and fiction, introduce 600 new words and expose the learner to political and other issues of modern Israel. Prerequisite: HEBR 1020 with grade of C or above, or instructor permission.
This intensive course begins with instruction in intermediate level oral expression, listening comprehension, reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills. Part of the Summer Language Institute. Prerequisite: HEBR 1016 & 1026 or equivalent
Prerequisite: HEBR 1020 with grade of C or above, or instructor permission.
This intensive course begins with instruction in intermediate level oral expression, listening comprehension, reading and writing, and continues with further development of these four skills. Part of the Summer Language Institute. Prerequisite: HEBR 1016, 1026 & 2016 or equivalent
This is the non-credit option for HEBR 2016.
This is the non-credit option for HEBR2026.
Readings in the prose narratives of the Hebrew Bible. Emphasizes grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. Attention to issues of translation and interpretation. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 1420 or the equivalent
Readings in the poetry of the Hebrew Bible. Emphasizes grammar, vocabulary, and poetics. Attention to issues of translation and interpretation. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 2410 or the equivalent
This course focuses on the conjugation of weak, or hollow verbs, and the passive of all conjugations. It also continues the study of subordinate clauses with special attention to adverbial clauses and their use. Texts for the course, which form the basis for class discussion in Hebrew and exercises in Hebrew composition, are drawn from various genres. Prerequisite: HEBR 2020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
Prerequisite: HEBR 2020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
Independent study for advanced students of Hebrew. Prerequisite: Instructor permission.
Students whose proficiency in Modern Hebrew has already reached the advanced level, or alternatively students who for their research focus on Hebrew Literature in translation, will pursue an independent study that will focus on the reading and interpretation of texts, as well as the analysis of media. Prerequisite: HEBR 3010
Introduces the study of history intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussing, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history.
Explores the history of the Middle East and North Africa from late antiquity to the rise to superpower status of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. Topics include the formation of Islam and the first Arab-Islamic conquests; the fragmentation of the empire of the caliphate; the historical development of Islamic social, legal, and political institutions; science and philosophy; and the impact of invaders (Turks, Crusaders, and Mongols).
What historical processes that have shaped the Middle East of today? This course focuses on the history of a region stretching from Morocco in the West and Afghanistan in the East over the period of roughly 1500 to the present. In doing so, we examine political, social, and cultural history through the lens of "media" in translation, such as manuscripts, memoirs, maps, travel narratives, novels, films, music, internet media, and more.
This course is designed to introduce students to the economic history of the Islamic World over the duration of roughly 1300 years of history. We explore ideologies, institutions, and practices of commerce in Muslim society, paying close attention to the actors, artifacts, and encounters, that gave it shape over the course of a millennium, ending with the onset of Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century.
This course surveys the history of modern Palestine/Israel. Using sources including scholarly texts, memoirs, newspapers, songs, short stories, posters, we study the history of this region from the mid-1800s to the present. Historical themes include colonialism in the region; the relationship between religion, nationalism, and ethnicity; rising violence and war; the relationship between memory and history; and the ongoing importance of history amidst the current crisis.
This course explores the dramatic Arab-Israeli war of 1948 in Palestine from the UN partition resolution of November 29, 1947 to the cease-fire agreements in early 1949. It covers the political, military progression of the war, within international and decolonization contexts, while paying special attention to the two major outcomes of the war and how they came about: Jewish independence and Palestinian dispossession.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of Middle Eastern History.
Studies Christianity in the Middle East in the centuries after the rise of Islam.
A survey of the history of the Ottoman Empire from its obscure origins around 1300 to 1700, this course explores the political, military, social, and cultural history of this massive, multi-confessional, multi-ethnic, inter-continental empire which, at its height, encompassed Central and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, the Middle East, and North Africa.
Rather than a traditional "area studies" approach to Middle Eastern history, we will explore the region's history from its maritime frontiers: the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean. We explore how nobles, merchants, slaves, sailors, and statesmen all forged the contours of a shared world, linking the economic and political histories of Arabia, Africa, South and Southeast Asia.
Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of Middle Eastern History.
This interdisciplinary course uses cinema as a vehicle to introduce students without a knowledge of Arabic to the perspectives of Arab peoples on their own history. Includes popular movies on the rise of Islam, Crusades, World War I, colonialism, modern city life, women's liberation,war, terrorism. Students read relevant history and learn critical theory on collective memory, propaganda, modernity, revolution, and gender.
The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pages in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.
The major colloquium is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topics of the colloquium. Colloquia are most frequently offered in areas of history where access to source materials or linguistic demands make seminars especially difficult. Students in colloquia prepare about 25 pages of written work distributed among various assignments. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.
In exceptional circumstances and with the permission of a faculty member any student may undertake a rigorous program of independent study designed to explore a subject not currently being taught or to expand upon regular offerings. Independent Study projects may not be used to replace regularly scheduled classes. Open to majors or non-majors.
World War I set the stage for many conflicts in the 20th-century Middle East. This course examines the last attempt to build a pluralistic, constitutional realm under the Ottoman empire; how that world crumbled in the Balkan wars and Great War; the Young Turks' relations with Germany; Lawrence of Arabia and the Arab Revolt; the Armenian genocide; women and peasants' suffering; the Balfour Declaration and start of the Palestine conflict.
This course explores the practice of slavery in its various forms in the Middle East and North Africa from pre-Islamic times through the abolition of the slave trade in the nineteenth-century Ottoman Empire. Topics include: sources of slaves and the slave trade; manumission; the social and legal position of slaves in Islamic societies; the slave-soldier phenomenon; captivity and ransom; gender and race; and the movement towards abolition. Prerequisite: Graduate students and advanced undergraduates with previous study of the Middle East.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of Middle Eastern History.
This tutorial explores the remaking of politics, economy, and ecology in the Middle East from the late 19th century onward. While international relations and corporations play a role in the scholarship of the 20th century Middle East, we seek to understand local dimensions of oil and capital as well, focusing less on the geopolitical context and more on the socioeconomic impacts of changing economic and energy regimes.
This tutorial surveys the historiography of the medieval Middle East and North Africa (broadly construed), from pre-Islamic Arabia through the Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk Sultanate, which reunified the eastern half of the Mediterranean for the first time in a millennium. Readings introduce the major dynasties between Iberia and Central Asia, from the Umayyads to the Ottomans, and the seminal texts that have shaped the field.
This tutorial explores diverse themes in the social and cultural environmental history of the Ottoman Empire, placing special emphasis on the transformation of Ottoman society from the 18th century onward.
The course comprises readings from the economic, social, and legal history of the Middle East from the early medieval period onward.
The status of minorities and intercommunal relations in the Middle East have long concerned scholars of the region. This tutorial explores the historiography of "minority" communities in the Middle East and their relationships with one another. In addition to examining how communal statuses and strategies of governance have changed over time, we will consider the plurality of experiences in the region and develop a comparative perspective.
This tutorial surveys the history and historiography of the Ottoman Empire from its obscure origins through the 18th century. Initial readings introduce major historiographical debates and political, military, and institutional history of the Empire, before moving into the historiography of the 16-18th centuries and current trends in multiple sub-fields. Specific works read and discussed will be shaped in part by interests of students enrolled.
This tutorial surveys the legal history of piracy from antiquity to the present, with a particular focus on the early modern Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Indian Ocean worlds. Readings consisting of scholarly monographs and primary source texts introduce key concepts and major debates in the field and as well as insight into differing legal responses to piracy in specific periods and imperial spaces.
The goal of this tutorial is to provide a broad overview of recent scholarship of modern Middle Eastern history in order to prepare students to conduct research in the field. We will focus mainly on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and we will discuss both historiographical and methodological questions.
Students taking this course will explore areas and issues of special interest that are not otherwise covered in the graduate curriculum. This course is offered at the discretion of the supervising professor.
Survey of Central Asian civilizations from the first to the twenty-first centuries, with particular emphasis on nomadism, invasions, conquests, and major religious-cultural developments.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of Middle Eastern and South Asian studies.
"Transnational Circuits of Cinema: An Introduction to Middle East - South Asia Film History" - Since its very inception as a traveling fairground attraction, cinema has been a globally-circulating medium. This course begins in the moment of early cinema and proceeds through the contemporary moment, with a focus on Middle East - South Asia genealogies of filmmaking.
From the ancient history of games like chess and backgammon, to sports like badminton and falconry, to the "Great Game" of imperial conquests, this course offers a theme-based gateway to the long-connected regions of the Middle East and South Asia. Over the semester, we'll explore this region of the world through short stories, films, tv shows, games themselves, and cameo visits by other faculty--all on the topic of "playing games"!
Survey of the Indian Ocean history from 8000 BCE to present. Includes rise of major religions in the area, dynamics of trade, including the influence of European expansion and the resistance to it.
Women in the Middle East and South Asia have embraced social media as a tool for expressing their identities and promoting causes important to them. This course examines women's use of social media in five selected countries -Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, and Pakistan - and investigates how it simultaneously enables and limits women's empowerment.
This course offers a semester-long study of Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian representation and racialization in American popular culture via the superhero genre. Engaging with visual media (comics, television, film), creator talks and interviews, and academic writing, we will think critically about how people and ideas travel across borders.
New course in Middle Eastern and South Asian studies.
This introductory course surveys recent revolutionary movements sweeping across the Islamic World, from North Africa, the Middle East into Asia, including the "Arab Spring." Key course questions include: Why rebel? Why now? What for? How? Are they spreading, failing, or being 'hijacked?' What roles have external actors played? What would Jefferson think?
From arid cities to irrigated fields, hot deserts to high mountains, the Middle East and South Asia encompasses a range of environments for thinking through the relationships between nature and society, people and animals, human and nonhuman worlds.
"Film Festivals and Global Media Cultures: Middle East- South Asia Spotlight"- With an emphasis on transnational film festival histories and collective media cultures in the Middle East and South Asia, this course offers a semester-long study of film festivals, as an intersection of historical and media industry approaches to cinema. Tie-ins will include comparative analyses of local film cultures and film festivals.
This course surveys the classics of Islamic mystical writing, spanning from the Middle East to South Asia and the Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Indian vernacular languages. With an eye to both form and content, we will examine the literary productions - both poetry and prose - of some of the most influential Sufi figures in Islamic history, including Rabi`a, Ibn al-Farid, Rumi, Hafiz, Khusrow, Bulleh Shah, and others. Readings in English translation.
This course offers a survey of Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian American comic books, graphic novels, and graphic memoirs. Reading fiction and nonfiction comics, paired with academic and critical writing and other media, we will think critically about what it means for creators of different diasporas and differently marginalized identities to produce art for readers in the United States.
In this course we will examine the history of astrology, as both a body of knowledge and a process of discovery, from the ancient to the contemporary periods. Astrology played a significant, albeit underappreciated, role in the making of ancient and medieval societies. We will consider astrology's early global status as a science with immutable laws, and its 17th-century designation as a pseudo-science in Western thought.
Part one surveys the history of science in the Islamic world, focusing on scientific developments that emerged from the encounter with Greek, Sanskrit, and European cultures. Muslim conceptions of the relationship between science and religion will also be examined. Part two explores contemporary Islamic scientific thought, focusing on Muslim responses to the environmental crisis, utilizing water pollution and India's Yamuna River as a case study.
This course is devoted to the longstanding screen histories of A Thousand and One Nights. We will investigate the way in which the text has variously congealed into a cinematic genre in its own right; a catapult for explorations of the fantastic, iterated as the wonders of technology/medium and sensuality; a contested site of negotiating Orientalist desires and stereotypes; and a platform for reflection upon the question of storytelling itself.
This course explores the cinematic and media worlds of fictional spies. We'll consider histories of espionage and zoom in on the Cold-War-era heyday of modern espionage and fictional spies. By following the narrative, formal, and historical geographies of spy genres in and beyond the Middle East and South Asia, we'll connect depictions of espionage and gadgetry to perspectives on seeing and being in the modern world.
This course provides an introduction to the peoples, cultures, and histories of the Middle East through an examination of language-use. We focus on Israel/Palestine--and the contact between Hebrew and Arabic--as a microcosm for the region as a whole. Readings present ethnographic, linguistic, and literary perspectives on language, identity, and the general processes of SELF/OTHER constructions in contexts of political and military confrontation. Prerequisites: previous coursework in Anthropology, Linguistics, or Middle East Studies.
New Course in Middle Eastern & South Asian Studies
How do we know what we know, and why do we feel what we feel, about Israel/Palestine? This course challenges us to reflect on this question by offering key perspectives on both the modern history of Palestine/Israel, on the one hand; and the modern history of film, on the other, through a unique set of "outsider" films about Israel/Palestine from across the Middle East and South Asia.
New Course (or Topic) in Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies.
The purpose of this course is to provide students with guidance in developing their undergraduate capstone projects. The initial portion of the course will be heavy on readings, while the latter portion will be structured as a series of hands-on workshops that draw on the insights of the earlier readings, in order to guide students through a semester-long research project of their choosing.
Independent study in a special field under the direction of a faculty member in MESALC. Prerequisite: Instructor permission.
Thesis research under the direction of a MESALC faculty member serving as thesis advisor and a second faculty member serving as second reader. The second faculty member may be from outside MESALC. Prerequisite: DMP major and instructor permission.
Thesis composition under the direction of a MESALC faculty member serving as thesis advisor and a second faculty member serving as second reader. The second faculty member may be from outside MESALC. Prerequisite: DMP major and instructor permission.
This course begins in the era of early cinema and proceeds through the contemporary moment, with a focus on Middle East -- South Asia genealogies of filmmaking. Its emphasis remains on the quintessentially transnational histories (parallels, intersections, circuits) of these cinemas - e.g., the centrality of popular Egyptian cinema within the Arab world; the prolific circulation of Hindi cinema across and beyond South Asia.
This course surveys the classics of Islamic mystical writing, spanning from the Middle East to South Asia and the Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Indian vernacular languages. With an eye to both form and content, we will examine the literary productions -- both poetry and prose -- of some of the most influential Sufi figures in Islamic history, including Rabi'a, Ibn al-Farid, Rumi, Hafiz, Khusrow, Bulleh Shah, and others. Readings in English translation.
New Course in Middle Eastern & South Asian Studies
New course in Middle Eastern and South Asian studies.
The purpose of this course is to provide students with guidance in developing their graduate research projects. The initial portion of the course will be heavy on readings, while the latter portion will be structured as a series of hands-on workshops that draw on the insights of the earlier readings, in order to guide students through a semester-long research project of their choosing.
Independent Study II
Required course for all candidates for the Master of Arts in Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies. During this course the final paper, required for the MA, is written. Includes instruction in research methodology, data analysis and a history of academic research on these areas.
For master's research, taken before a thesis director has been selected.
For master's thesis, taken under the supervision of a thesis director.
Introduces the cultural traits and patterns of contemporary Arab society based on scholarly research, recent field work, and personal experiences and observations in the Arab world. Taught in English; no knowledge of Arabic is required.
The course will introduce students to the political history of Abbasid Baghdad from 762 to about 1300 CE. The Abbasids -- monarchs of the Arab/Islamic Empire -- reigned for 500 years, mostly from Baghdad, though many historians hold that their decision-making authority largely collapsed by the mid-10th century. The course will also introduce students to the study of early Arabic/Islamic historiography through the close study of primary texts.
This course looks at the social life of languages in Israel. Beginning historically with the philosophical debates about language, identity, and nationhood swirling around the 19th century European Jewish communities, we examine how the revival of Hebrew contributed to the establishment of the Israeli state in the 20th century, and how processes of language change have influenced political and aesthetic life in Israel today.
Covers Jewish languages Yiddish, Judeo-Arabic, Ladino, and Hebrew from historical, linguistic, and literary perspectives. Explores the relations between communities and languages, the nature of diaspora, and the death and revival of languages. No prior knowledge of these languages is required. This course is cross-listed with ANTH 2470.
New Course in Middle Eastern Studies
Introducing the cultural dimensions of Classical and Medieval Arab-Islamic Civilization (600-1400 CE). We will study how Arabs approach their worldly life and pleasures through literature; organize their social domain by ethical-law; construct their spirituality and worldview through religion; react to nature by science; and attempt to resolve the internal and external inconsistencies of their culture through theology, philosophy and mysticism.
This class aims to develop an understanding of the global significance of the 330 million Arabs as the fourth largest community in the world and Arabic as the fifth largest spoken language in a historical and thematic manner from the Ottomans (1400 CE) to the present.
This course aims to expose students to samples of original translated texts from the creative heritage of the Arab-Islamic civilization
This course reviews key milestones of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict throughout the lends of competitive sports in the MENA regions and in Israel in particular. The course examines sports¿ role in reflecting socio-political divisions of religion, gender, class and representation struggles, while serving political interests as part of culture and identity building, as well as its utilization as a platform for ethno-nationalist violence.
This course will approach the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of literature and film. We will study memoirs, short stories, documentaries, and feature films in order to think about several broader historical themes, including: the relationship between religion and nationalism, the role of colonialism in the Middle East, the links between history and memory, and the meaning of homeland.
The primary purpose of this course is to explore the history and culture of the ancient Near East, focusing on Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Syria-Palestine, with emphasis on its cultural legacy. Considerable attention will be given to primary sources (Kramer, Arnold and others) and archaeological contributions (with slide illustrations).
In this course, we will examine the history of the Ottoman Empire through social, political and cultural changes and transformations. We will do this through concepts and phenomena such as state and empire formation, capitalism, class struggle, imperialism, colonialism, orientalism, nationalism, nation-building, patriarchy, and ethnic engineering. We will discuss each period and theme within a global framework.
Introduction to peoples, languages, cultures and histories of the Middle East. Focuses on Israel/Palestine as a microcosm of important social processes-such as colonialism, nationalism, religious fundamentalism, and modernization-that affect the region as a whole. This course is cross-listed with ANTH 3470. Prerequisite: Prior coursework in anthropology, middle east studies, or linguistics, or permission of the instructor.
In this course, we will examine how the current refugee crisis may be seen as a radical event of a scope that reaches beyond Europe and the Middle East. We will be looking at previously-shaped images of nation, religion, migration, and integration, as well as asylum, refuge, and citizenship. Ultimately, we will be using our newly gained knowledge as a tool to understand cultural inclusion and societal exclusion both "far away" and "at home."
This course provides a close look at Palestinian cultural and literary production within the State of Israel. Muslim and Christian Palestinian citizens of Israel. With the support of region-specific theory, and through a continuous engagement with (the English translation of) literature, music, film, spoken word, visual art, political speeches, and newspaper articles, you will develop a critical understanding of the multifaceted, contemporary manifestation of Palestinian voices in Israel.
This course offers an in-depth historical, philological, and socio-cultural exploration into the representation of the Afro-Arab and the African as depicted across a wide range of Arabic and Islamicate chronicles, saints' lives, and (mainly) folk epics, among sundry other genres. In the course of the semester, special attention will be given to significant moments in the history of Afro-Arab and Arab-African encounters.
New course in Middle Eastern Studies.
Middle East Studies Seminar
This course will address some of the religious, socio-political, and historical factors that have contributed to the shaping of the Arab Middle East and Arab identity(s) in the modern age. From the rise of Islam in the 7th century A.D., to the Ottoman Empire, to the colonial remapping of the Middle East during the period of the two World Wars,to the Gulf and Iraq wars, this course will help students gain an understanding of modern Arab culture.
This course offers an in-depth historical, philological, and socio-cultural exploration into the representation of the Afro-Arab and the African as depicted across a wide range of Arabic and Islamicate chronicles, saints' lives, and folktales, among sundry other genres. In the course of the semester, special attention will be given to significant moments in the history of Afro-Arab and Arab-African encounters.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of Middle Eastern studies
Introducing the cultural dimensions of Classical and Medieval Arab-Islamic Civilization (600 - 1400 CE). We will study how Arabs approach their worldly life and pleasures through literature; organize their social domain by ethical-law; construct their spirituality and worldview through religion; react to nature by science; and attempt to resolve the internal and external inconsistencies of their culture through theology, philosophy and mysticism.
This class aims to develop an understanding of the global significance of the 330 million Arabs as the fourth largest community in the world and Arabic as the fifth largest spoken language in a historical and thematic manner from the Ottomans (1400 CE) to the present.
This course aims to expose students to samples of original translated texts from the creative heritage of the Arab-Islamic civilization
Introductory language sequence focusing on reading, writing, comprehending, and speaking modern Persian through audio-lingual methods. Persian grammar is introduced through sentence patterns in the form of dialogues and monologues.
Introductory language sequence focusing on reading, writing, comprehending, and speaking modern Persian through audio-lingual methods. Persian grammar is introduced through sentence patterns in the form of dialogues and monologues. Prerequisite: PERS 1010 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
This course is designed for Persian heritage students who many know spoken language to some extent, but they have not been exposed to formal or written language. It covers two semesters of Elementary Persian; emphasizing reading and writing skills, and the grammar of the language.
Each course focuses on the development of reading, writing, and speaking skills. Special attention is paid to reading comprehension using selections from classical and modern Persian prose and poetry, preparing students for advanced studies in Indo-Persian language and literature. Prerequisite: PERS 1020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
Each course focuses on the development of reading, writing, and speaking skills. Special attention is paid to reading comprehension using selections from classical and modern Persian prose and poetry, preparing students for advanced studies in Indo-Persian language and literature. Prerequisite: PERS 1020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
This course is designed to introduce the students to the world of Persian prose literature. We will read a variety of prose genre. We will look at the semantics, morphology, and syntax and analyze the topic vis-à-vis these aspects. Prerequisite: PERS 2020 or equivalent
The goal of this course is to increase student's efficiency in reading modern texts; ranging from literary prose fiction to news media excerpts, to poetry. although the students will be expected to learn grammatical structures emphasis will be placed on the functional usage of the language and on communication in context. Prerequisites: Persian 3010 or instructor's permission.
For students residing in the Persian group in Shea House. Prerequisite: instructor permission.
A comprehensive, historical introduction to Persian poetry and prose from the 10th to the 18th centuries. Emphasizing the history and development of Persian poetry and prose, this advanced-level language course introduces various formal elements of Persian literary tradition. It analyzes literary texts and explores the linguistic structure, fine grammatical points, and syntactic intricacies of classical Persian. Prerequisite: PERS 2020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of Persian.
Independent study for advanced students of Persian. Prerequisite: Instructor permission.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of Persian.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of Persian. Prerequisite: PERS 2020 or equivalent, or instructor permission
Independent study for advanced students of Persian. Prerequisite: Instructor permission.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic int he subject area of Persian Translation.
This course examines the role of media in the formation, development, and outcomes of revolutions. Cases of the Iran Revolution of 2022, the Islamic Revolution of 1979, and the Constitutional Revolution of early 20th century will be discussed in depth and the part media played in the dissemination of ideas, news, propaganda, etc. in these socio-political movements will be explored.
This course aims to introduce students to Persian literature's contribution to global humanism through poetry and poetics. We'll explore how Persian romance novels in verse (masnavi) engage with themes like love, desire, beauty, and the Divine, and how these themes intersect with gender, religion, society, ethics, womanhood, and leadership. The main focus will be the narrative content, the poets' arguments, and the issues they raise.
Introduces modern Persian literature in the context of Iranian society and civilization. Lectures and discussions follow the development of modern Persian poetry and prose, and trace the influence of Western and other literature, as well as Iranian literary and cultural heritage, on the works of contemporary Iranian writers. Facilitates understanding of contemporary Iran, especially its people, both individually and collectively, with their particular problems and aspirations in the twentieth-century world. Taught in English.
This course is an introduction to major poets of Classical and Medieval Persian literature through learning about different poetic forms and genres, themes and topics, and motifs and images within the Persian literary canon by reading the works of poets from different centuries. We will also learn about these poets, their social lives, cultural changes, court affiliations, thoughts, and philosophies.
This seminar examines life narratives and other forms of literary output by Iranian women writers. We will examine the ways these writers have desegregated a predominantly all-male literary tradition, as well as their arrival at the forefront of a bloodless social movement. Some of the genres to be investigated include novels, short stories, poetry, autobiographies, memoirs, and films.
In this course, we study the experimental cinema of post-revolutionary Iran. We will examine issues related to gender, culture and religion, and study film as a gateway into understanding the cultural, historical and political issues in contemporary Iran.
Using a mix of cinema and literature, this course seeks to highlight how personal narratives of love and desire are often more than just individual stories. These stories don't exist in a vacuum; they are underwritten by the influence of politics on personal freedoms, the evolution and impact of gender roles, the tension between tradition and societal change, and the weight of cultural norms and expectations on individual choices.
The course focuses on two key twelfth-century texts: Nasrullah Munshi's Kalila and Dimna (translated by Wheeler Thackston), a collection of animal fables--featuring lions, jackals, elephants, hares, tortoises, snakes, ducks, and even ants--rooted in Indian and Persian moral traditions; and Farid ud-Din Attar's The Conference of the Birds (translated by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis), a Sufi allegory exploring the soul's journey.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic int he subject area of Persian Translation
This course examines the role of media in the formation, development, and outcomes of revolutions. Cases of the Iran Revolution of 2022, the Islamic Revolution of 1979, and the Constitutional Revolution of early 20th century will be discussed in depth and the part media played in the dissemination of ideas, news, propaganda, etc. in these socio-political movements will be explored.
Introduces modern Persian literature in the context of Iranian society and civilization. Lectures and discussions follow the development of modern Persian poetry and prose, and trace the influence of Western and other literature, as well as Iranian literary and cultural heritage, on the works of contemporary Iranian writers. Facilitates understanding of contemporary Iran, especially its people, both individually and collectively, with their particular problems and aspirations in the twentieth-century world. Taught in English.
This seminar examines life narratives and other forms of literary output by Iranian women writers. We will examine the ways these writers have desegregated a predominantly all-male literary tradition, as well as their arrival at the forefront of a bloodless social movement. Some of the genres to be investigated include novels, short stories, poetry, autobiographies, memoirs, and films.
This course focuses on the life and art of Forugh Farrokhzad in a spectrum of genres that includes poetry, travel narratives, literary criticism, essays, and films by and about her. Although from the beginning of her literary career, Farrokhzad was a daring, often irreverent explorer of taboo topics, she was also deeply rooted in the Iranian culture. We study the body of her work to better understand Iran in the 1950-60s
In this course, we study the experimental cinema of post-revolutionary Iran. We will examine issues related to gender, culture and religion, and study film as a gateway into understanding the cultural, historical and political issues in contemporary Iran.
Using a mix of cinema and literature, this course seeks to highlight how personal narratives of love and desire are often more than just individual stories. These stories don't exist in a vacuum; they are underwritten by the influence of politics on personal freedoms, the evolution and impact of gender roles, the tension between tradition and societal change, and the weight of cultural norms and expectations on individual choices.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of Persian Translation
This course aims to introduce you to Persian literature¿s contribution to global humanism through poetry and poetics. We'll explore how Persian romance novels in verse (masnavi) engage with themes like love, desire, beauty, and the Divine, and how these themes intersect with gender, religion, society, ethics, womanhood, and leadership.
This survey course introduces major poets of Classical and Medieval Persian literature. We will explore poetic forms, genres, themes, and imagery across eight centuries. We'll also examine these poets' social lives, cultural changes, court affiliations, thoughts, and philosophies. The class involves close reading and critical analysis to better understand Persian poetry and the poets who wrote it.
In this course, we¿ll explore how Persian literature---especially in allegorical and narrative forms like the masnavi---addresses themes such as virtue, justice, empathy, and self-knowledge. The focus will be on two key twelfth-century texts: Nasrullah Munshi¿s Kalila and Dimna (translated by Wheeler Thackston), a collection of animal fables---featuring lions, jackals, elephants, hares, tortoises, snakes, ducks, and even ants---rooted in Indian and Persian moral traditions.
New course in Persian Literature in translation.
Special Topics in Islam.
Jewish and Muslim communities share a complex history of interaction, spanning from seventh-century Arabia to the present day, and including instances of collaboration as well as moments of violence. Our course examines this dynamic relationship through documentary and literary sources. We focus on points of contact between Muslims and Jews in contexts ranging from battlefields to universities, from religious discourse to international politics.
Studies the Irano-Semitic background, Arabia, Muhammad and the Qur'an, the Hadith, law and theology, duties and devotional practices, sectarian developments, and Sufism.
Global Islam traces the development of political Islamic thought from Napoleons invasion of Egypt in 1798 to the Arab Spring in 2010 and its aftermath in the Middle East.
Surveys Islamic history from the "age of the great empires" (Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal) to the colonial period and up to the present day, including Islam in America. Islamic life and thought will be examined from multiple angles -- including popular piety and spirituality, philosophy and theology, law, gender, art, architecture, and literature -- with particular attention paid to the rise of modern Islamic "fundamentalist" movements.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Islam
Systematic reading of the Qur'an in English, with an examination of the prophet's life and work.
This course will be a historical and topical survey of the development of Sufism from the classical Islamic period through the modern age, paying special attention to the interaction of ideas and the social and political contexts surrounding them.
Islam began strange and will return to strange as it began. So blessings to the strange ones! So goes a famous saying of the Prophet Muhammad, celebrating the virtue of truth over conformity. This course examines Islamic movements that have sought to push back against religious and political norms of their times. Along the way, we read debates about orthodoxy: what are the limits of the Muslim community and how are such limits contested?
Prophecy provides the theme for our comparative inquiry into two sacred scriptures (the Qur'an and the Hebrew Bible) alongside the rich traditions of Muslim and Jewish interpretive literature. We will consider narratives about specific prophets, medieval debates between and within Muslim and Jewish communities about the status and function of prophecy within their traditions, and modern theoretical approaches to prophecy
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Islam.
From Islamic states to Muslim secularism, from progressivism to salafism, from Islamic feminism to social conversativism, this course examines a broad range of political thought and practice that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Exploring thinkers and real-world cases, historical and contemporary, students will get beneath the headlines, coming to a robust understanding of the place of Islam in modern politics across the globe.
This course will survey the history of Islam and Muslim societies in Africa through their arts. Covering three periods (Precolonial, Colonial, and Post-colonial), and four geographic regions (North, East, West, and Southern Africa), the course will explore the various forms and functions of Islamic arts on the continent. Through these artistic works and traditions we will explore the politics, cultures, and worldviews of African Muslim societies.
This seminar will examine some of the most profound and influential writings about love from the Islamic intellectual and poetic traditions. Perhaps more than any other civilization, the literary and philosophical traditions of Islamic civilization have been "love-centric." In this course we will closely read and discuss various philosophies and theories of love from the mundane to the mystical.
This course examines Hindu-Muslim interactions in South Asia, bridging the long-standing gap between Hindu and Islamic studies while introducing critical issues currently facing the historiography of Hindu-Muslim relations. Special topics within the ambit of Hindu-Muslim encounters will be explored in depth, with a particular emphasis on intellectual interactions between traditions of Hindu and Islamic philosophy.
This graduate seminar provides a comprehensive survey of the subjects and areas addressed in the field of Arabic and Islamic Studies.
This course surveys the major developments within Islamic philosophy and theology from the classical to the early modern periods. Topics covered include the early theological schools (Ash'aris, Maturidis, Mu'tazilis), the transmission of Greek philosophy into Arabic, Peripatetic philosophy, Illuminationism, Shi'ite philosophy, and philosophical Sufism, concluding with the challenges faced by Islamic philosophy through the colonial and modern eras. This course has no prerequisites, but some previous experience in either Islamic studies or philosophy will be helpful.
Topics in Islamic Studies
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Islam.
The discipline of anthropology has made significant contributions to the study of Islam. Yet far too rarely has it been asked, how might we take Islamic traditions' own ways of knowing not merely as objects of inquiry, but as intellectual partners? This course will engage readings in ethnography & critical theory that examine diverse expressions of Islam as it intervenes into debates over what it means to be human in the world.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Islam.
Advanced readings in Arabic philosophical, theological, mystical, and literary texts. Course readings will be in Arabic.
Advanced readings in Persian philosophical, theological, mystical, and literary texts. Course readings will be in Persian.
Tutorial in Islamic Studies on philosophy, theology, jurisprudence, ethics, and political Islam.
This individualized graduate tutorial provides an introduction to the important tradition of Arabic poetry in praise of the prophet Muhammad, surveying both secondary literature & Arabic poetry in the original. Students will learn about the history, uses, formal features, & contemporary legacy of this literary tradition. At the end of the tutorial, an annotated bibliography or translation or review essay (>20 pages) will be submitted for grading.
This course will examine the ways the ideal life has been imagined in Islamic thought, from antiquity to modernity. Putting these narratives in conversation with writings on the nature of self-hood and subjectivity in Euro-American academic traditions, we will examine what unique resources Muslim traditions have to explore the capabilities and limits of the self, and in what ways they participate in dilemmas shared across traditional boundaries.
This reading course introduces students to the medieval Hebrew literary tradition and the distinctive linguistic features of Hebrew in this period. The texts under consideration will vary by semester. Scholarly articles will supplement and contextualize the Hebrew readings. Students will discuss the religious and historical significance of the passages that they prepare in advance of our sessions.
Studies the history, literature, and religion of ancient Israel in the light of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Emphasizes methods of contemporary biblical criticism. Cross listed as RELC 1210.
First half of a year-long introduction to biblical Hebrew, using an innovative language-learning approach. Through communicative activities in an immersive environment, students acquire oral and aural capacities naturally, in Hebrew. These capacities enable students to internalize the language and thus achieve the overall course goal: read simple biblical Hebrew prose with immediate comprehension. No Prerequisites.
Second half of a year-long introduction to biblical Hebrew, using an innovative language-learning approach. Through communicative activities in an immersive environment, students acquire oral and aural capacities naturally, internalize the language, and efficiently develop the ability to read biblical Hebrew prose with immediate comprehension. Students read the prose portions of the Book of Jonah and master basic Hebrew grammar, syntax, and vocabulary. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 1410 or the equivalent.
Jewish and Muslim communities share a complex history of interaction, spanning from seventh-century Arabia to the present day, and including instances of collaboration as well as moments of violence. Our course examines this dynamic relationship through documentary and literary sources. We focus on points of contact between Muslims and Jews in contexts ranging from battlefields to universities, from religious discourse to international politics.
What does it mean to construct one's identity in dialogue with ancient texts and traditions? Can the gap between ancient and contemporary be bridged? Or must texts and traditions born of a remote time and place remain hopelessly irrelevant to contemporary life? This course explores these questions by examining the myriad ways that contemporary Jews balance the complexities of modern life with the demands of an ancient heritage.
This class is an introduction to Jewish Life in America in its religious and cultural manifestations. Students will become familiar with Jewish texts, holidays, rituals, lifecycle events, philosophical issues, communities and cultural practices as they are encountered NOW.
Description and explanation of the diverse forms of Jewish religious life in America.
Readings in the prose narratives of the Hebrew Bible. Emphasizes grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. Attention to issues of translation and interpretation. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 1420 or the equivalent.
Readings in the poetry of the Hebrew Bible. Emphasizes grammar, vocabulary, and poetics. Attention to issues of translation and interpretation. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 2410 or the equivalent
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of Judaisim.
This course provides the student with an opportunity to explore a new topic in Jewish Studies
This course focuses on Jesus of Nazareth as an historical figure, that is, as he is accessible to the historian by means of historical methods. Our most important sources of information on Jesus are the canonical Gospels, and so much of the course will involve reading and attempting to understand these texts. We will attempt to reconstruct at least the broad outlines of Jesus activity and teachings, keeping in mind the limits of our sources.
The Passover Haggadah cultivates sensitivity for the plight of the stranger, and we will study how it came about and how it has been used as a template for rituals of social activism on behalf of oppressed peoples, and in particular, of refugees. In volunteer placements in the community, UVA students will work with individuals who have have found refuge in Cville. Together, they will collaborate on designing haggadahs and community seders.
This course treats the phenomenon of prophecy in ancient Israel in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Biblical texts often deal with plagues and pestilence. Does our current location in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak help us understand these texts in new ways? How do these stories reveal ancient Israel's most cherished values? Do biblical accounts of plagues and pestilence offer us insight into our own predicament in the age of corona?
This course introduces the medieval Jewish intellectual tradition (9th-13th centuries) in its cultural and historical context. We will explore key themes such as the nature of God, prophecy, exile, the status of Scripture, the history of religions, and the quest for spiritual perfection. Readings will be drawn from philosophical, theological, exegetical, pietistic and mystical texts, including works from Saadia Gaon, Judah Halevi, and Maimonides.
This course offers an introduction into the major themes of Modern Jewish Thought.
A seminar on the biblical book of Job (with attention to its literary artistry and compositional history) and its subsequent interpretation.
Historical study of the Jewish mystical tradition, emphasizing the persistent themes of the tradition as represented in selected mystical texts.
Studies the structure and content of Jewish law in terms of its normative function, its historical background, its theological and philosophical principles, and its role in contemporary society both Jewish and general.
An exploration of ethical thinking using the resources of the Jewish tradition.
Prophecy provides the theme for our comparative inquiry into two sacred scriptures (the Qur'an and the Hebrew Bible) alongside the rich traditions of Muslim and Jewish interpretive literature. We will consider narratives about specific prophets, medieval debates between and within Muslim and Jewish communities about the status and function of prophecy within their traditions, and modern theoretical approaches to prophecy.
This course provides a wide-ranging exploration of the culture, history & thought of German Jewry from 1750 to 1939. It focuses on the Jewish response to modernity in Central Europe and the lasting transformations in Jewish life in Europe and later North America. Readings of such figures as: Moses Mendelssohn, Heinrich Heine, Rahel Varnhagen, Franz Kafka, Gershom Scholem, Martin Buber, Karl Marx, Rosa Luxembourg, Walter Benjamin, and Freud.
How might we radically reimagine what Judaism is, was, and could be through queer theory? How does Judaism queer our understanding of what "religion" is? What if we approached Judaism as queer religion? In this course, students will be encouraged to play with these sorts of questions, to rearrange categories and reassemble them into new and unexpected configurations. Rather than focusing on a discrete region or time-period, students will explore Queer Judaism from a multiplicity of genres, media, times, peoples, and places - from Trans Talmud to the AIDS blood mezuzah of Albert J. Winn.
As we study the ritual of the Jewish wedding ceremony from antiquity to the present day, we will see how notions about marriage, gender relations, and the normative family are displayed and challenged. In particular, we will be investigating the establishment of innovations in the contemporary Jewish weddings (traditional, liberal, same-sex and interfaith) in America and Israel.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject of Judaism.
This course provides the student with an opportunity to explore a new topic in Jewish Studies
This course will interrogate the complex and diverse picture of gender and sexuality presented in the Bible. Students will read stories focusing on key biblical figures generating their own analysis on the dynamics of gender at play, while also considering ancient and modern interpretations and methodological approaches. Throughout, students will be exposed to the cultural and historical milieu that produced these texts.
This course is built around the "big" questions Jews in the modern period have faced--such as "Who is a Jew?," "Are there divine commandments?," "Must a Jew believe anything?," "Can there be God after Auschwitz?" Each unit will approach a different question from a variety of perspectives and sources--secular and religious--offering tools to understand complexities, acknowledge context, and ask new questions.
Talmud
This course is organized around great works in the history of art whose thematic content and historical context intersect with the Jewish experience. Each session focuses on one representative artwork from antiquity to the present to reveal something about Jewish history. Textual sources (biblical, poetic, literary, scholarly) help interpret the artwork.
This course examines the ways that contemporary Jews balance the complexities of modern life with the demands of an ancient heritage. The course toggles back and forth between the historical conditions that produced seminal texts and traditions, and the use to which they are put in the making of contemporary Jewish identities, with special attention to attention to strategies of resistance, adaptation and affirmation.
The course discusses models of history, meta-history, counter history, and anti-history in modern Jewish thought. Readings from Heinrich Graetz, Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Walter Benjamin, A.J. Heschel, Leo Strauss, and others.
This course explores theological and ethical themes in classical rabbinic literature (c. 200-600 CE). Focus is on gaining fluency in textual and conceptual analysis. Questions examined include: How is the relationship between God, humans generally and the people Israel specifically, imagined? What is evil and how is it best managed? What is the nature of one's obligation to fellow human beings? How does one cultivate an ideal self?
An examination of religion and culture of the rabbinic movement (c. 70-600 CE) in the social and cultural contexts of Greco-Roman antiquity. Among the issues to be examined: rituals and institutions of the rabbis, social organizations within the rabbinic movement, engagement with other sectors of Jewish and gentile society.
Students explore the gems of the medieval Jewish intellectual tradition (9th-13th centuries), considering models of theology, exegesis, pietism, belles lettres, ethics, and mysticism. Focus on the development of foundational religious ideas and innovative literary forms, in historical and cultural context, with attention to parallels in the Islamic and Christian traditions.
What happened when classical Jewish traditions of study and learning encountered the Hellenic traditions of philosophy? This course examines instances of encounter between philosophy and Jewish text learning throughout Jewish history, from the days of Philo to today, focusing on contexts of history, text-reading and hermeneutics. The second half of the course will explore implications for studies in Christianity and Islam.
This course trains students to read Mishnah in the original language. Primary emphasis will be on giving students tools to decode the text and set the text in its appropriate historical and cultural contexts. Special attention will be paid to literary and legal aspects of the text. The Mishnah will also compared with parallels from contemporary compositions (the Tosephta and midrash halakhah). Secondary readings will expose students to the range
This course explores the Jewish Bible commentary in its formative period, between the ninth and twelfth centuries. Emphasis is given to the exegetical techniques and cultural significance of the genre, its engagement with the rabbinic tradition, and its parallels with Muslim and Christian hermeneutics. By comparing commentaries on a given biblical passage, we will consider the craft of Jewish commentary writing in varied historical circumstances.
A seminar on the book of Genesis (with attention to its literary artistry, compositional history, and theological issues) and its subsequent interpretation.
A seminar on the biblical book of Job (with attention to its literary artistry and compositional history) and its subsequent interpretation. Prerequisite: One course on biblical scholarship is required; knowledge of Hebrew and/or Greek is preferred, but, if not, then admission by instructor permission.
An exploration of ethical thinking using the resources of the Jewish tradition.
The Jewish philosopher Hermann Cohen was one of the most influential thinkers of 20th-century religious thought. The seminar traces Cohen's neo-Kantian legacy in Europe and the United States. Apart from Cohen's work, we will cover select topics in Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Ernst Cassirer, Ernst Bloch, Leo Strauss, Mordecai Kaplan, and Steven Schwarzschild.
A seminar on the biblical Song of Songs (with attention to its literary artistry and compositional history) and its subsequent interpretation.
This course provides the opportunity to offer a new course in the subject of Judaism
This course introduces students to midrashic literature in the original Hebrew. It gives students the interpretive skills to make sense of the texts and provides an overview of the scholarly issues pertinent to the study of midrash.
An advanced tutorial in translating biblical poetry, with several interrelated goals: developing skills in advanced biblical grammar; furthering capacities for biblical interpretation; exploring the dynamics of biblical poetry; understanding how ancient poetry and biblical books formed, developed, and were redacted; evaluating secondary literature as a prelude to developing sound arguments and coherent elegant translations.
Assorted passages from the Mishnah are read out loud, subjected to grammatical and content-based analysis, rendered into elegant English, and considered as exemplars of rabbinic literature.
An advanced tutorial on the book of Job and its related texts--ancient, medieval, and modern--which allow us to establish the literary and theological traditions out of which Job was composed and the literary and theological legacies that it has engendered, including thinking about divine justice, human piety, the limits of human knowledge, and the nature of the divine-human encounter.
This course explores the major themes and debates in modern Jewish history and historiography from the Enlightenment to the present.
This tutorial helps graduate students develop and strengthen skills in the reading and translation of ancient rabbinic Hebrew. It prepares them to do advanced research with ancient rabbinic texts, with a focus on midrashic texts in particular. It gives students the interpretive skills to make sense of the texts and provides an overview of the scholarly issues pertinent to their study.
Students will read through a year of Jewish liturgy. Primary sources will include Jewish prayer books of different denominations and secondary sources will include the works of Larry Hoffman, Ruth Langer, Alan Mintz, Judith Plaskow, and Marcia Falk. The course will highlight the variations of Jewish liturgy across denominations and will end with contemporary feminist liturgy.
This tutorial brings together three major Jewish thinkers of the 20th century with a special focus of dialogical philosophy and theology.
This graduate tutorial explores the history and formation of the Hebrew Bible.
This tutorial focuses on key texts in the field of Holocaust Studies. Reading lists will be adjusted to the particular interests of the student, but may include scholarship on the ethics of representations, individual and collective memory, evil and suffering, moral agency and culpability, comparative studies of genocide and mass atrocities, theodicy and anti-theodicy, and Holocaust testimony.
This tutorial puts Jewish feminism in conversation with Muslim and Christian feminisms, in the particular contexts of sacred texts, prayer, ritual practice, law, sexuality, leadership, and community.
This interdisciplinary research collaboration explores the variegated expressions of Judaism between the construction of the second Jerusalem temple in the 6th century BCE, through the Hellenistic and Roman periods, down to the temple's destruction by the Romans in the 1st century CE. Given the chronological and geographical vastness and complexity of the subject, this course will of necessity consider a selection of problems, issues, and topics.
Tutorial 2 in sequence of 3. Mendelssohn's book Jerusalem, or on Religious Power (1783), the center of our discussion and a response to Hobbes, Spinoza, and Locke, is both a theory of government & a novel interpretation of Judaism, but also a program of enlightenment and modernization that has to be seen in the context of Jewish emancipation in the 18th century. The course introduces texts by Kant, Lessing, Herder, Friedlander, & Schleiermacher.
This graduate course is a sequence of three independent tutorials on theopolitical thought in Modern Judaism: I. Spinoza, II. Mendelssohn and the Enlightenment, III. Martin Buber, Hermann Cohen, and Franz Rosenzweig. Each tutorial lasts one semester and can be taken outside the sequence. The focus of the course lies on the alliance and confrontation of religion and politics in Modern Jewish thought and its immediate intellectual historical context.
This tutorial, the third in a sequence on theopolitical thought in Modern Judaism, will focus on 20th-century Jewish philosophers, especially Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, Leo Baeck, and Franz Rosenzweig. Their distinct views on the state, the nation, and the theocratic community, as well as how modern Christian thought grappled with similar questions, will be analyzed in the context of a crisis of politics during the interwar period.
This reading course introduces students to the medieval Hebrew literary tradition and the distinctive linguistic features of Hebrew in this period. The texts under consideration will vary by semester. Scholarly articles will supplement and contextualize the Hebrew readings. Students will discuss the religious and historical significance of the passages that they prepare in advance of our sessions.
Students learn to analyze and interpret ancient rabbinic texts (c. 200-600 CE) in order to discern theological commitments and ethical instructions. The task is complicated by the fact that rabbinic texts are neither theological treatises nor ethical manuals. They are composed as biblical commentary and as codes, commentary and argumentation on legal topics.
In this class we will conduct an intensive review of the Nastaliq script and the basic grammar of the Urdu language.This is not a class for students with no prior knowledge of Urdu. Rather it is designed to take advantage of the familiarity you already have with Urdu by virtue of growing up in a family where Urdu is frequently spoken. The pace will be quick, with an eye to enabling you to proceed directly to a 2000- or 3000-level Urdu class.
Introduces various types of written and spoken Urdu; vocabulary building, idioms, and problems of syntax; and conversation. Prerequisite: for URDU 2010: HIND 1020 or equivalent.
Prerequisite: for URDU 2020: URDU 2010 or equivalent.
This course is designed to expand and to consolidate the structures the student has learned through URDU 2020 by reading original Urdu texts, ranging from literary prose fiction to news media excerpts to poetry (both classical and modern). We will discuss these texts in Urdu in class, and the students will be responsible for a series of short essays throughout the semester in Urdu pertaining both to the texts and to other topics. Pre-requisites: URDU 2020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
This course is designed to expand and to consolidate the structures the student has learned through URDU 2020 by reading original Urdu texts, ranging from literary prose fiction to news media excerpts to poetry (both classical and modern). We will discuss these texts in Urdu in class, and the students will be responsible for a series of short essays throughout the semester in Urdu pertaining both to the texts and to other topics. Pre-requisites: URDU 2020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.
In this class we will conduct close readings (in Urdu!) of several of Manto's short fiction writings, and will discuss them in detail. There will be weekly assignments, a final take-home exam, and a final video project. Prerequisite: URDU 2020 or instructor permission.
In this class we will conduct close readings (in Urdu!) of several of Masud's short fiction writings, and will discuss them in detail. There will be weekly assignments, a final take-home exam, and a final video project. Prerequisite: URDU 2020 or instructor permission.
In this class we will conduct close readings (in Urdu!) of several 20th-century dramas/plays, and will discuss them in detail. There will be weekly assignments, a final take-home exam, and a final video project. Prerequisite: URDU 2020 or instructor permission.
This course will introduce advanced Urdu and Hindi students to some of the finest poetry in Urdu. Those who cannot read the Urdu script will have the option of reading the texts in Devanagari (the Hindi script). Some of the poets we will read are Mir, Ghalib, Dagh and Faiz. Course work will include brief analytical papers, as well as in-class presentations. Prerequisites: URDU 3010 or 3020; or HIND 3010 or 3020; or instructor permission.
This course is to allow 3000-level new courses in Urdu to be taught for one semester.
Independent Study in Urdu
This course is designed to expand and to consolidate the structures the student has learned through URDU 2020 by reading original Urdu texts, ranging from literary prose fiction to news media excerpts to poetry (both classical and modern). We will discuss these texts in Urdu in class, and the students will be responsible for a series of short essays throughout the semester in Urdu pertaining both to the texts and to other topics. Prerequisites: URDU 2020 or instructor permission.
This course is designed to expand and to consolidate the structures the student has learned through URDU 2020 by reading original Urdu texts, ranging from literary prose fiction to news media excerpts to poetry (both classical and modern). We will discuss these texts in Urdu in class, and the students will be responsible for a series of short essays throughout the semester in Urdu pertaining both to the texts and to other topics. Prerequisites: URDU 2020 or instructor permission
This course will introduce advanced Urdu and Hindi students to some of the finest poetry in Urdu. Those who cannot read the Urdu script will have the option of reading the texts in Devanagari (the Hindi script). Some of the poets we will read are Mir, Ghalib, Dagh and Faiz. Course work will include brief analytical papers, as well as in-class presentations. Prerequisites: URDU 3010 or 3020; or HIND 3010 or 3020; or instructor permission.
Independent study in Urdu language and/or literature. Prerequisite: URDU 5010 or 5020 or equivalent, or instructor permission.