Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (MEIS-UA)

Builds basic skills in modern standard Arabic, the language read and understood by educated Arabs from Baghdad to Casablanca. Five hours per week of instruction and drills, stressing the proficiency approach, plus work in the language laboratory.

Builds on the skills acquired in Elementary Arabic I and II, with increased emphasis on writing and reading from modern sources, in addition to aural/oral proficiency.

Introduces students to the basics of Urdu alphabet, grammar, and sentence structure. All four skills are emphasized?writing and reading, as well as speaking and listening. Tailored to address students' interests not only in the language but also in the culture in which it is rooted.

Continues where Elementary Urdu leaves off. The students are introduced to literary texts. Along with specific language tasks, criticism and analysis now form part of the curriculum. Dictation, memorizing poetry, comprehension, and engaging in longer sessions of conversation form an important part of this course. By the end of this course, students should have achieved some fluency in reading literary texts, writing short essays, and carrying on a conversation.

Grammar, phonetics, and pronunciation of modern standard Persian, reading simple texts, and writing short compositions. Builds basic skills in modern standard Persian in preparation for reading classical Persian literature.

Builds on the skills acquired in Elementary Persian I and II through continued study of grammar and syntax. Practice in spoken Persian. Introduction to classical and modern prose and poetry.

As a part of a two-year curriculum, prepares the student for a high level of proficiency in Hindi. Through a variety of class, small-group, and paired activities, as well as language and computer lab sessions, students are expected to develop reading, speaking, listening, and writing skills. The instructor also takes into consideration individual needs.

Designed to further develop fluency in oral and written communication. In addition to the class, small-group activities, and language and computer lab sessions, students are given an individual assignment to work with native speakers from the community and report on their findings. The reading assignments are designed to broaden understanding of content used for oral presentations.

Offers an overview of Indian culture via original texts and is designed to improve students' advanced-level reading, as well as their written and oral discourse in Hindi. Emphasis is placed on the development of linguistic skills required for a close reading and in-depth analysis of complex texts. Introduction is learner-centered, and students have a choice in the selection of the texts and topics for their presentations. Taught seminar-style, the course combines classroom discussions, oral reports, and occasional background lectures. Students should have completed the two-year sequence of Hindi or have an equOffers an overview of Indian culture via original texts and is designed to improve students' advanced-level reading, as well as their written and oral discourse in Hindi. Emphasis is placed on the development of linguistic skills required for a close reading and in-depth analysis of complex texts. Introduction is learner-centered, and students have a choice in the selection of the texts and topics for their presentations. Taught seminar-style, the course combines classroom discussions, oral reports, and occasional background lectures. Students should have completed the two-year sequence of Hindi or have an equivalent background.

Introduction to the written and spoken language of modern Turkey. All texts are in Latin characters and comprise both textual and audio material.

Materials from Turkish newspapers, magazines, literature, and radio provide the basis for reading comprehension and conversational ability in modern Turkish.

Advanced undergraduate course that focuses on specic issues in Middle Eastern history. Topics vary each time it is offered.

Topics vary by semester.

A historical and comparative approach to the first half millennium of Islamic history. Course traces the cultural and religious strands shaping the institutions, belief systems, and practices. Using primary sources, students explore the major debates in the cultural history of this period.

Examines the Ottoman Empire from a world historical perspective. Beginning with the collapse of the Byzantine state and ending with the French Revolution, students gain an understanding of the Ottoman state and society and its responses to, and participation in, global trade, interstate warfare, and the cultural and political development of the modern world.

Topics vary by semester.

Surveys main political, social, economic, and intellectual currents of the 20th century. Emphasis on historical background and development of current problems in the region. Topics include imperialism, nationalism, religion, Orientalism, women, class formation, oil, the Arab-Israeli crisis, and the Iranian revolution.

This course is a survey of the history of Palestine in the modern period, focusing on the conflict for control of this land from its origins in the late nineteenth century until the present. The purpose of this course is to examine the evolution of this ongoing struggle in its historical context and to try to understand why the various parties to this conflict have thought and acted as they did.

This course focuses on the ways in which Islamic belief and practices are taught, comprehended, debated and experienced in daily life in communities of Muslims across the contemporary world. We study the different forms such practices and beliefs take in the context of societies, cultures, histories and political economies of varying kinds, from the Middle East to Indonesia, from West Africa to India. We examine wide-ranging debates among Muslims about what is orthodox and what is unorthodox, what is permitted and what not, how children and adults should be taught to "be Muslim" and what an ethical Muslim life really is in our complex and conflict-ridden world. Reading materials centers on anthropologists' close study of communities and groups across the Muslim world today.

Landmarks of Modern and Contemporary Arabic Literature Significant prose works (in translation) of the Arabic literary tradition from approximately the last hundred years are considered through the prisms of their multiple contexts—including, but not limited to, historical, social, cultural, gender, and class—and also examined as works of art.

Survey of the masterpieces of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish literature from pre-Islamic times to the present. Selected texts in translation from the major genres, both in prose and poetry, are studied as works of art in themselves and as a reflection of the societies that produced them.

The Arabian Nights have been an essential and dynamic literary meeting point between Arabic/Islamic literature and the Western canon. This course examines both sides of this cultural dichotomy. Literary analysis of the tales includes close reading of the structure of the original as well as modern variations by authors such as Poe and Rushdie.

Addresses the rich literary product of modern and contemporary South Asia. Offers more advanced undergraduates a window on a rich and culturally varied area of the world, as well as an understanding of aspects of South Asian history and society as represented in translations of modern prose writing (short stories and novels) originally written in South Asian languages.

An introductory course designed to acquaint students with the great works of the ancient Indian literary tradition, a major part of which was written in Sanskrit. The earliest form of that language, called Vedic Sanskrit, is the language of the Vedic hymns, especially those of the Rig Veda. Sanskrit has had an unbroken literary tradition for over 3,000 years. This rich and vast literary, religious, and philosophical heritage is introduced in this course. In addition, students work with excerpts from the Jain and Buddhist canons written in Prakrits and examples of Tamil poetry. Selections from the Vedic literature, classical drama, epics, story literature, and lyric poetry are studied in English translation.

Offerings (which may vary) focus on one or more Middle Eastern literary traditions and/or cultural traditions and/or genres of writing, using a thematic or theoretical approach.

Investigates the complexity of the messages and models relating to gender in one of the world's most influential religious traditions. Beginning with the rise of Islam and sampling primary and secondary sources from a range of times and places, examines how foundational texts and personalities are interpreted and reinterpreted for changing times.

Examines recent trends in contemporary Arab theatre and film, contextualizing these within a broader history of Arab performance. Particular attention is given to how experimental practitioners have explored issues of human rights and the control of territories under the modern state. Strategies addressed include the conflation of the past and present as a means of exploring the persistence of the colonial power structure in the modern Arab world; the use of the parable to speak truth to power; the incorporation of the populist entertainment forms that directly engage the audience; and the use of familiar tales to explore new political realities.

Historical-political background of the Middle East and its contemporary social and political problems, including the impact of the West; religious and liberal reactions; conflict of nationalisms (Arab, Iranian, Turkish, and Zionist); and revolutionary socialism. Specific social, political, and economic problems?using a few selected countries for comparison and analysis?including the role of the military, the intelligentsia, the religious classes, the legitimization of power, urban-rural cleavages, bureaucracy, and political parties.

Topics vary by semester.

Introduces students to Islamic law through a reading of its various genres and a study of a selection of secondary sources covering a number of substantive topics (for example, ritual, criminal, and public law). Also focuses on the ways Islamic law has interacted with Islamic societies in historical practice and the way it has adapted, or not adapted, to the challenges of modernity.

An introduction to the content, themes and style of the Qur?an and surveying the diversity of interpretive approaches to the text (legal, mystical, sectarian, literary, and politically engaged) in the medieval and modern periods.

Topics vary by semester.

This course is designed to explore the role of religion in modern societies. We will examine religion as an important social institution and also as a cultural system. We will study canonical and contemporary theories of religion (Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Dewey, and Geertz). The focus of the course, however, will be Islam. We will look at the cultural context and historical construction of Islam, as well as the different social contexts within which Islam has evolved. We will examine the relationship between Islam and modernity, including secular ideologies, gender politics, and modern democracy. We will pay particular attention to the role that Islam plays in the everyday life of those who practice it, who are affected by it, or who struggle with it as their tradition. Our goal is to study Islam not as a fixed object or authentic tradition but as a social and cultural phenomenon subject to change, contestation, and critique. Texts may include John Dewey, A Common Faith; Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History; Fatima Mernissi, Islam and Democracy; Leila Ahmed, A Quiet Revolution: The Veil's Resurgence, from the Middle East to America. Elizabeth Fernea, and In Search of Islamic Feminism.

Ancient Iranian culture and its influence on the Near East. The impact of the Arab-Islamic conquest, the Islamization of Iran, and the Iranian role in the development of Islamic civilization. The rebirth of Iranian self-consciousness and the establishment of Shiism as the state religion under the Safavids. Traditional Iranian culture in conflict with the West. Modern Iran from the reinstitution of the monarchy to the Islamic revolution. Illustrated with readings, slides, films, a museum visit, live recitations, and music.

This course offers a general and interpretive narrative tracing of Sufism from its period of origin until recent times. It observes the development and spread of the so-called “Islamic mysticism” through the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and ultimately Europe and the United States. Moving beyond a focus on doctrines and practices, this course situates Sufism in its social, cultural and historical contexts. We will learn how Sufi holy personages gained followers, not only among tribesmen and peasants, but also emperors, merchants, and bureaucrats. We will then look at how such alliances made leading Sufis powerful even at the zenith of European imperialism and in today’s globalized world.

Prerequisite: permission and placement for departmental majors from the director of undergraduate studies. 2 or 4 points.

Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. 1 to 4 points per term.

This course is a continuation of Elementary Arabic I, and following the communicative approach, it will make an extensive use of the four language skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Likewise, it puts an emphasis on the cultural aspects of Arabic. The teacher will provide a constructive framework for the course and guidance to the students. The role of the students is instrumental in making this course a successful and enjoyable experience. Therefore, you must come always prepared to class, particularly by doing your homework and arriving on time to the class. This course involves full interaction in Arabic between students and the teacher, and speaking and writing assignments are more varied and more demanding than the assignments for Elementary Arabic I.

Based on students' previous knowledge of Arabic (the alphabet, phrase structure, basic nominal and verbal sentences, basic verbal tenses and some knowledge of cases and moods) the course will enhance students' vocabulary, proficiency in reading, writing, speaking and hearing the language, and make them familiar with various special morphological and syntactic structures (relative clauses, the comparative and superlative, patterns of broken plurals, diptotes and more).

Based on students' previous knowledge of Arabic (the alphabet, phrase structure, basic nominal and verbal sentences, the sound verb and cases and moods) the course will enhance students' vocabulary, proficiency in reading, writing, speaking and hearing the language, with a focus on the comprehension of extended literary texts, and make them familiar with various special morphological and syntactic structures (irregular verbs, special adverbial constructions, rhetorical devices and colloquial expressions).

An introduction to the principal languages spoken in contemporary Israel (chiefly Hebrew and Arabic, but also English, Russian, and Amharic) and to social practices and state policies concerning their use. As part of the course students will learn the Hebrew and Arabic alphabets and the basics of the two languages' lexicons and grammatical structures, with a mind to exploring their common features. The course includes tours of Tel Aviv's multilingual "linguistic landscape," in which different languages are displayed in public spaces both separately and together.

This course explores the origins of Islam and the development of its rituals and doctrines to the 21st century. It assumes no previous background in Islamic studies. Students will learn about topics such as the Koran and the Prophet, Islamic law, the encounter of East and West during the Crusades, and Islam in Britain. They will find out how Muslims in different regions have interpreted and lived their religion in past and present. Readings will include not only scholarly works but also material from primary sources, for example the Koran, biographies and chronicles. The course consists of a combination of lectures, seminar discussions, field trips and includes other media, such as film.

This course examines the relationship that developed between the Islamic world and the West and their historical impact on each other. The class surveys and analyses the historical relationship between these two regions from the rise of Islam through the early modern period and the advent of European colonialism to modern-day resurgence of traditional aspects of Islam. The course will focus on the Mediterranean as sphere of diplomatic, trade and cultural relations. Particular emphasis will be on periods that saw intensified interaction between the two civilizations. Examples of these are sessions on the Crusades in Syria, the westernisation-modernisation dilemma within the Ottoman reformist movement, the diplomatic battle fought on education between the Ottoman Sultan and the missionary schools, and the exchanges between European and Ottoman intellectuals towards the end of the 19th century.

From the 8th century until the 17th century, Islam played a crucial role in the history of the Iberian Peninsula. Today this period is often portrayed as one of inter-religious harmony, while al-Andalus is simultaneously mourned in contemporary Islamist discourse as a lost paradise. While we look at the history of Al-Andalus and assess the importance of the contributions of Al-Andalus to Europe and America, we evaluate the significance of its legacy in modern Spain. Furthermore, we will study the protagonist role that Spain has played in relations between Europe and the Mediterranean Islamic countries during the Modern Age. Students will gain further understanding and contextualization of current Arab-Muslim geopolitics. As a case study, we will address the Spanish Protectorate in Morocco, as well as its ensuing process of decolonization and the consequences that shape the current international relations between the two neighboring countries, Spain and Morocco.

The course description for this Topics in Middle East Politics course varies depending on the topic taught. Please view the course descriptions in the course notes section below.