Courses

In this introduction to Middle East Studies, we will embark on an interdisciplinary exploration of a region that spans from Central Asia to North Africa. We will study the Middle East as a multilingual, multireligious, multicultural space that, because of its unique cultural geography connecting peoples and governments from Africa, Asia, and Europe, has developed distinguishing characteristics over time. We will build familiarity with the diversity of this region and explain its multiple cultural and sociopolitical crossroads through analysis of storytelling, food, music, religious practices, governments, economies and more.

In this course we will study representations of the environments and landscapes of the modern Arab world, with particular focus upon five distinct but connected types of places– city, country, mountain, desert, and sea– and their entanglement with various myths of nationhood and peoplehood. Through study of Arab fiction and film and in conversation with history, spatial theory, and ecocriticism,  we will think about how environment has shaped those societies, and how members of those societies have made claims of their own about and upon their surroundings.

In translation, no Arabic required. All course readings will be in English.

ARBC 135 is cross listed with MEST 135.

This course provides students with the knowledge and analytical tools needed to engage productively and respectfully with current events surrounding Israel and Palestine. It situates the war in Gaza, along with other recent events, within the broader history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We will study key moments in the history of the conflict and examine the conflicting narratives formed by different actors within the Israeli and Palestinian communities, as well as by other related communities. Students are not expected to adopt a particular viewpoint; rather, the course emphasizes historical context, critical analysis, and careful engagement with competing perspectives. Discussions will be based on primary sources and interdisciplinary academic scholarship.

ARBC 148 is cross listed with MEST 148.

In this course we will explore the emergence of Arabic literature in one of the most exciting and important periods in the history of Islam and the Arab world; a time in which pre-Islamic Arabian lore was combined with translated Persian wisdom literature and Greek scientific and philosophical writings to form the canon of learning of the new emerged Arab-Islamic empire. We will explore some of the different literary genres that emerged in the New Arab courts and urban centers: from wine and love poetry, historical and humorous anecdotes, to the Thousand and One Nights, and discuss the socio-historical forces and institutions that shaped them. All readings are in English. No Arabic knowledge required.

ARBC 185 is cross listed with MEST 185.

Transmitting Jewish memory from one generation to the next has always been a treasured practice across the Jewish world. How have pivotal environments for Jews lived on in Jewish collective memory? How do they continue to speak through film, art, photography, music, architecture, museum/ memorial/ summer camp design, prayer, cuisine, and more? We'll compare dynamics of remembering and memorializing several Jewish worlds: ancient Egypt, medieval Spain, early modern Germany, pre- through post-Holocaust Europe and Russia, colonial into contemporary New York City, 1950s Algeria, and pre-State into contemporary Israel. Research projects can include family history explored through scholarship on cross-cultural memory.

CCST 230 is cross listed with MEST 230.