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 …
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. …
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 …
Introduction to the development and themes of modern Arabic literature (poetry, short stories, novels and plays). Taught in English.
Dalit literature is perhaps the most remarkable literary movement to emerge in post-independence India. It is the voice of the most marginalized section of India's population, those formerly known as …
This class will focus on cinema produced by the industry in Mumbai, popularly called Bollywood. Topics will include the relationship between fiction and documentation, between melodrama and realism, music and …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
The course explores some of the most influential literatures of love and devotion to emerge from the Indian subcontinent. Starting with the Bhagavad-Gita -- the first South Asian text to …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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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 …
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 …