MDES G4801. History and Cultures of the Himalayas. 3 pts. History and cultures of the Himalayan area in relation to India and Tibet from the earliest to modern times.

HSME G4941x. Constitutionalism, Ataturk and Reza Shah. 3 pts.

The emergence of modern Turkey and Iran has been linked to two strong figures of Ataturk and Reza Shah. Depicted as "men of order," they have been held responsible for the major transformations associated with the rise of the modern nation states of Turkey and Iran. This course critically examines the legacy of these two leaders by placing them within the long term history of social and political transformations in the Ottoman Empire and Iran in the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Particular emphasis will be placed on the relationship between the emergence of these leaders and the constitutional movements that preceded them. Of interest here is the degree to which they were in continuity with, a reaction to, or a break from these movements. Of further interest is the creation of modern citizenship, authoritarianism, commitment to constitutionalism, radical reforms from above, rise of the middle class, social and political programs directed toward homogenization, and republicanism.

MDES G8620x. South Asia Research Colloquium. 2 pts.

This course is open to all graduate students working on any aspect of the South Asia humanities. Students will present their research in progress, choosing one or two historical or theoretical readings to accompany the draft of their work (this can be a dissertation chapter or MA essay in progress, an honors thesis, a seminar paper, or the like). Our focus will be on clarifying the object of study, testing the methodology employed, and situating the research within current historical and theoretical discussions. Class meets alternate weeks.

MDES G8840. Doctoral Seminar. 3 pts.

CLME W3042y. Palestinian and Israeli Politics and Societies. 3 pts. This course covers the history of the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala) in 19th century Europe and the development of Zionism at the turn of the 19th century through the current. (MC)

MDES W3240y. Islam, Science, and the West. 3 pts. Not offered in 2000-2001. Surveys the interaction between the religious Islamic dogma and the and the|

CLME W3752. Middle Eastern Cinema. 3 pts.

CLME W3921x (Section 01). Jews and Arabs: Approaches towards a Problem. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010.

This course will attend to the making of a scientific and scholarly object. The history of this object, its unity and integrity remains little understood. Drawing from the history of science, as well as from a number of scholarly approaches, we will consider the making of "Jews and Arabs" into a problem. At stake is the modern representation and study of this object, with particular attention to the singular, and ephemeral moment in which identity (between Jews and Arabs) was "institutionalized" in the figure of the Semites.What, then, are the historical developments that preceded, and those that brought about the appearance and subsequent disappearance of the Semites? How have these developments resonated in the structure of academic disciplines (Orientalism, of course, but also the study of religion, race studies, cultural studies, and so forth.)? How do they resonate still? We will attend to some of the founding texts of "Semitics" and to the emergence of a critical reception of the term and its referents.

MDES W3925x. Introduction to Western Armenian Literature. 3 pts.

A broad introduction to the major stages, movements and works of Western Armenian literature from its "inception" in the Ottoman Empire to its contemporary Diasporic variations.

MDES G4000x. Theory and Methods In Middle East and Asian Studies. 3 pts. Prerequisites: the instructor's permission. Explores recent studies on the Middle East with explicitly stated theoretical orientations that may be grouped under three broad catagories of nationalism, discipline, and power and resistance. Methodologies as diverse as comparative method, post-structuralism, narrative, and ethnography are not investigated in the abstract but in the context of rich empirical case studies.

CLME G4020. Hate. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010. This reading intensive course examines hate as it is used in langauge, in various forms of hate speech, and as it works within the self, especially in cases where self-hate plays a role in forming a group's identity. The course will discuss and attempt to psychoanalyze the issue of hate basing discussion in the philosophies and theories of Heideggr, Sartre, Althusser, Butler, Ronell and Freud.

CLME W4024x. Themes in the Novels of the Middle East, Africa and South Asia: Fiction of Post-Colonialism. 3 pts.

This course offers a reading of a selection of novels from the Middle East, India and Africa that represent, interrogate and challenge the colonialist and post-independence history of their nations and regions. It has long been understood that colonial domination was achieved through the deployment of more than brute force. It was not only power, but also colonialist knowledge that became the foundations of European hegemony over the colonial world. It has also become a matter of little debate that post-colonial societies are still, to varying degrees, subject to overt or subtle forms of neo-colonial domination. The course examines the complex processes by which the writers of the Middle East, South Asia and Africa suffer, resist and ultimately try to extricate their cultures and societies from the legacy of colonialism. Novels in both English and English translations will constitute the primary reading material for this course. They will be supplemented by a selection of theoretical and critical readings

CLME W4031y. Cinema and Society In Asia and Africa. 3 pts.

Introduction to Middle Eastern cinema as a unique cultural product in which artistic sensibilities are mobilized to address, and thus reflect, significant aspects of contemporary society, Arab, Israeli, Turkish, and Iranian cinema. Cultural and collective expressions of some enduring concerns in modern Middle Eastern societies.

CLME W4033. Cinema and Revolution in Cuba and Iran. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010.

This course will look at the role of cultural production within post-1959 Cuba and post-1979 Iran, focusing on their respective cinemas but with the complementary explorations of other literary, visual, and performing arts.

MDES W4041 (Section 001). Reform and Revolution: Middle East History. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010.

This course approaches some of the most influential social-scientific work on social movements; the movements are evaluated in light of the theoretical notions such as irrational crowds, rational calculators, hidden and public transcripts, moral economy, habitus, waves, repertoires, and global and local ideological frames of collective action.

MDES G4052x. Locating Africa in the Early 20th Century World. 3 pts.

During the early twentieth century the meaning of Africa and its location within the "universal" historical narrative was a source of discussion and debate among western and African elites. In this seminar, we will study the ways that African and people of African descent participated in this discussion. Through primary and secondary readings, we will learn about how African, African American and European writers, artists and activists engaged and (re) interpreted imperial and international resources (including the insights of the new sciences of Man) to (re)imagine their political and social situations, and to participate in various political expressions , including surrealism, pan-Africanism, communism, feminism, black internationalism, and anti-imperialism.

MDES G4062x. Global Political Thought: Gandhi, Iqbal, Nehru, Senghor. 3 pts.

This course is intended to explore important themes in modern political thought from texts taken from traditions outside the modern West. It will not be devoted to textual exegesis, but use as sites of exploration central questions of modern politics. The attempt will be not merely to grasp what these thinkers thought, but to think more widely with and through their texts. The course will focus on the works of M K Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohammad Iqbal, and Leopold Senghor. It will involve reading assigned texts and critical and comparative analysis of their theoretical ideas.

CLME G4224x. Islam in Modern Arabic Literature.

The purpose of this course is to study the presence of Islam as theology and faith in modern Arabic literature. While modernity has imposed a secular line of thought in narrative, poetry, and drama, there is also the counter assumption that the writer as intellectual relies on structures of feeling and other dynamics. Regardless of the secular or religious affiliation of the writer, religion operates as culture. Even when there are negative portrayals of some jurists or Imams, there is a cultural formation of great bearing on the manner and matter of writing. The underlying assumption behind the course is the need to study these perspectives in order to understand literature as strongly involved in making up modern Arab consciousness. Texts are in English, and include novels by Mahfuz, Ghitani, Nawal Sadawi, drama by Izz al-Din al-Madani and Salah Abd al-Sabur, and poetry by Buland al-Haydari, Adunis, and al-Bayati.

CLME G4225y. Reading Orientalism. 3 pts.

Edward Said's Orientalism has been transformative to academic discussions and practices, and beyond. It has generated a significant range of responses, commentaries and points of departures. Written from within the literary profession, the intricacies of its style and rhetorical gestures, complexities of its language, the possibility, in short, that Orientalism is a "difficult" book deserving of close reading - all this has perhaps not been sufficiently entertained. The purpose of this course will be to read with excruciating patience and discipline: to read Orientalism. However, we will also attend to the ways in which Orientalism has been read. Throughout, particular attention will be paid to the way the book itself deploys and enacts the figure of reading, the practice (or range of practices) of reading that Orientalism is, as well as the kind of reading Orientalism offers and advocates.

CLME G4226x. Arabic Self-Narratives: Secular Autobiography and Its Writers' Predicament. 3 pts.

This course studies a number of autobiographical works; memoirs and reminiscences that are meant to rationalize and sell a writer's experience. Although repressed accounts, these serve as trajectories for a secular journey rather than one from denial to affirmation. Staunchly established in modernity and its nahda paradigms, most of these writings are secular itineraries that rarely search for faith. They are the journeys of a generation of Arab intellectuals who are facing many crises, but not the crisis of faith. They provide another look at the making of the Arab intelligentsia since the early 20th century and help us discerning the pitfalls and failures, along with successes, that have been wrapping the nation state.

CLME G4227y. The Islamic Context of the Arabian Nights since the Establishment of Baghdad. 3 pts. Prerequisites: No prior knowledge of Arabic language is required.

This course questions the popular assumption that the tales of the Thousand and One Nights lack any Islamic content and that their fantastic or erotic dimensions are the only dynamic narrative components behind the vogue. This collection is read against a number of contemporaneous writings (in English translation), including al-Hamadan's Manama, to discuss issues that relate to market inspectorships, economy, social order, marginal groups like the mad, the use of public space including the hammed, and the position on fate, destiny, time, afterlife, sex and love. The course takes its starting point from classical Arabic narratives, poetry and epistolary art and follows up the growth of this repository as it conveys, reveals, or debates Islamic tenets and jurists' stand. The course aspires to provide students with a solid and wide range of information and knowledge on Islamic culture since the emergence of the Islamic center in Baghdad (b. 762). Students are expected to develop a critical method and insightful analysis in dealing with the text, its contemporaneous works from among the belletristic tradition and popular lore, its adaptations, and use and misuse in Arabic culture since the ninth century.

CLME G4241. Sufism Across Arabic Literature. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010.

This seminar tackles the Sufi literary constant in early Sufi texts by al-Hallaj, al- Suhrawardi, ibn Arabi and others which resurface in the writings of Mahfuz, Abd al-Sabur, al-Bayati and Adunis.

CLME G4261. Islam on the Street: The Religious Dynamic in Modern Arabic Literary Production. 3 pts.

This course questions the whole idea of Arab modernity which is usually associated with the nahda or Arab awakening at the turn of the nineteenth century. Through close analysis of texts, poetry, narrative, travelogue and memoirs, it argues that the bane of modernity is its subordination to a Western ideal that minimizes or even negates its engagement with Islamic and Arab tradition. The nation state and through codification processes and as led by the intelligentsia forged a social program that is no less divested of tradition and rural culture. Only after 1967, the unsettling experience of total bankruptcy, that intellectuals question the dichotomies of science versus religion and the myth of progress versus tradition. New writings take to the street where they find substance and faith that has been ignored for long under cultural dependency. These works receive due attention in relation to theoretical studies that increase readers' critical insight.

CLME G4323x. Hagop Oshagan: Prison to Prison. 3 pts.

An exploration of subjecthood, subjection and subjectivity in Western-Armenian literature, taking Ottoman-Armenian writer Hagop Oshagan's (1883-1948) prison-themed novels as its point of departure. Readings will also include Dostoyevsky, Hugo, Bakhtin, Lukács and Foucault alongside the works of other Armenian writers. Special attention will be paid to the impact of the Armenian nationalist movement and representations of "the Turk."

CLME G4444y. Secularism and Its Critics. 3 pts.

An interdisciplinary overview of the secularism debates, drawing from political theory (as pertains to tolerance, law and religious freedom), literature (including modern reading practices, secular criticism and blasphemy) and anthropology (as it intersects with comparative religion and Middle East Studies).

MDES G4524x. Hebrew Love: National Discourse and Sentimentality in Hebrew Literature. 3 pts.

Hebrew Love will examine the Hebrew literary and visual canon in search of its discourse of love and the larger implications of such a discourse. Notoriously love is impossible to define and very difficult to engage as a critical category, and yet it forms the core of national revival and is the main vehicle of linkage between the work and the individual. Moving from the biblical foundation across time, works written in and out of the land of Israel and later in the state will be read as formations of a Hebrew heart but also of gender, the nation and the polity. These contexts and intertexts will be examined together as the poetics of emotional experience and another effort to understand what we talk about when we talk about love.

CLME G4527y. Semites -Race, Religion, Literature. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010.

This course examines the historical developments behind the use and eventual disuse of the term "Semite" and the resulting disciple, "Semitics." How has the rise and fall of the term/idea affected various aspects academia and individual academics.

MDES W4531. Jewish Passivity in Modern Jewish Literature. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010. Major representations of Jewish passivity in poetry and prose.

MDES G4542y. The Culture of Israeli Cinema. 3 pts.

The goal of this class is to provide an introduction to the history of Israeli cinema whose interpretation and discussion will also be an in-depth discussion of the main issues engaged by Israeli culture. Cinema provides an interesting vantage point to approach to Israeli culture, as it always expresses a social point of view and its history not only represents the major issues Israel has dealt with since its creation, but is in itself a history of the struggle for hegemony within Israeli culture and society. Each meeting will include an in class screening of one of the major works of Israeli cinema beginning in the 1950's and leading up to "Beaufort" and "Waltzing With Bashir". Preparation for class will consist of the reading of literary and scholarly texts that provide some of the context for the movies and the issues debated within. Discussion will be based on "Reading" cinema as a complex text that allows insight not only to the issues but to the very fabric of their discourses.

CLME G4560x. Political Theology. 3 pts. This reading-intensive course will engage the notion of "political theology," a notion that emerges within the Western tradition (Varro, Augustine) and has become instrumental in thinking and institutionalizing the distinction between religion and politics over the course of the twentieth century. We will take our point of departure the key texts that have revived this notion (Schmitt, Kantorowicz), engage their interpretation of the Bible and of Augustine and medieval followers. We will then examine the role of Spinoza and Moses Mendelsohn, the extention of the notion of religion to "the East" (Said, Grosrichard, Asad), and conclude with some of the current debates over secularization in the colonizing and colonized world.

CLME G6020 (Section 001). Colonialism. 3 pts.

The purpose of this seminar is to investigate the theoretical and historical dimension of Colonialism as one of the most vociferous forces of change in modernity. The seminar is intended primarily for graduate students. Advanced undergraduate students will be considered only after interview. In this course, we will follow two simultaneous tracks: As we explore various theoretical issues concerning colonialism, we will equally navigate the historical manifestations of this force in various continental contexts. The course is heavily investigative, research-based, and bibliography-oriented. We are primarily after an investigation of the economic and social changes that preceded and followed colonialism.

CLME G6031y (Section 01). Arab Social Life: Classical and Modern. Not offered in 2009-2010.

This course offers a reading of Arab social life, classical, postclassical and modern as problemized in literary texts and the broad cultural corpus.

MDES G6031x. Nationalism In the Middle East As Idea and Practice. Not offered in 2009-2010. Prerequisites: Instructor permission for all undergraduate students. Instructor: Joseph Massad. Intends to familiarize students with the most recent theories dealing with nationalism from a variety of angles and perspectives.

MDES G6144y. Pan-Africanism: French and Francophone Perspectives. 3 pts.

This seminar explores how Black leaders, intellectuals, and artists chose to imagine Blacks (African and people of African descent) as a global community from the late 19th century to the present. It examines their attempts to chart a course of race, modernity and emancipation in instable and changing geographies of empire, nation, and state. Particular attention will be given to manifestations identified as their common history and destiny and how such a distinctive historical experience have created a unique body of reflections on and cultural productions about modernity, race, religion, class, gender and sexuality, in a context of domination and oppression.

CLME G6222. Arabic Poetic Modernity. 3 pts. While mapping Arabic poetry and poetics, their origination, formation, and impact on the cultural milieu, this course focuses on the making and predicament of modernity, its innate contradictions, and the implications of pastism, colonialism and globalism. It studies Arab poets as caught between a past that was read, misread, or misunderstood, and a present that has a large body of challenge, attraction, and difference. They have to understand their Islamic or Arab milieu, fathom its cultural underpinnings while negotiating a western legacy of many facets. The outcome is central to any study of endemic problems that mar Arab ideology and may explain its many failures and successes. The course reads criticism in line with poetic production, the role of the poet as public intellectual (terms and applications are defined and set in tribal, national, social, and cultural terms and contexts), and the interference of group or totalitarian opinion with his/her self-styled vision and career. Books and material are in English translation, but Arabic originals form part of the preparation of MEALAC students, specializing in Arabic. No prior knowledge of Arabic language is required from NON-MEALAC students.

MDES G6524y. Jewish Writing and Modernism. 3 pts. Prerequisites: Hebrew proficiency required.

This seminar forms part of an extended seminar focusing on the view that what was often referred to as "The Modern Jewish Literature" or "The Modern Jewish Canon" does not exist. As a matter of fact, it is doubtful that a unified Jewish culture and a one, comprehensive Jewish literature, ever existed (after Biblical times). Modernity, however, clearly and blatantly fragmented Jewish cultural life and creativity, and what Jewish literary production throughout the last two hundred and fifty years amounts to is not a continuous "Jewish" canon but rather a welter of competitive, and often mutually exclusive Jewish literary canons of various kinds: some defining their parameters within nationalist ideologies and written in Jewish languages, and some developing a mentality of "dual citizenship." Writing in various non-Jewish languages and addressing a non Jewish readership, some (not all) Jewish writers also wrote as Jews (and to a certain extent, for Jews). Together these modern Jewish literary traditions form a complex that can be studied and understood in terms of contiguity rather than those of continuity. The purpose of the seminar is to explore the dynamics and parameters of this Jewish literary contiguity. It would be done in a series of one-semester graduate seminars, each focusing on a different aspect of this very comprehensive topic. The languages all students would be expected to know are Hebrew and English, although texts originally written in Yiddish, German, Russian and other languages would be used (in English and Hebrew translations).

MDES G6600. Postcolonial Theory. 3 pts.

This course will go over some philosophical and interpretative problems raised by recent works in a field described as 'postcolonial theory'. It will start with the original debates about 'Orientalism' - particularly its critical arguments about the question of representation of the Orient in art and literature, the question of the writing of history, and the logic of basic concepts in the social sciences. The course will analyse some 'Orientalist' texts in detail, assess the criticisms offered by postcolonial writers, and take up these three problems - of representation, history and conceptualization for detailed, rigorous critical discussion.

MDES G8031x. Politics of Desire.

MDES G8101y. Middle East Research Colloquium. 3 pts.

This course is open to all graduate students conducting research on aspects of the modern history, culture and politics of the Middle East. Students preparing a dissertation chapter, MA thesis, M. Phil examination field, PhD. prospectus or similar project will develop and present a draft of their work. We will choose additional readings to accompany each presentation, focusing on scholarship that informs or extends the issues addressed in the research. The aim of the colloquium is to enable students to clarify and test the questions that shape their work and to better situate it within current methodological and theoretical debates.

MDES G8206. Psychoanalysis, Identity and Culture. 3 pts.

This graduate seminar aims to introduce students to Freud and Freudian Psychoanalysis and the integration of both in critical theory. The main question the seminar aims to study is the formation of identity in psychoanalysis and how it relates to civilization and culture more generally, whether in its gender, sexual, or national configurations. The influence of Social Darwinism and Developmentalism more generally on Freudian psychoanalysis will be discussed as well as the importance of related temporal concepts deployed in psychoanalysis' insistence on the divide between primitivism and culture. We will discuss a number of major scholarly works engaging Freud's theories on all these questions and their relevance to social and cultural analysis.

MDES G8206y. Psychoanalysis, Identity and Culture. 3 pts.

This graduate seminar aims to introduce students to Freud and Freudian Psychoanalysis and the integration of both in critical theory. The main question the seminar aims to study is the formation of identity in psychoanalysis and how it relates to civilization and culture more generally, whether in its gender, sexual, or national configurations. The influence of Social Darwinism and Developmentalism more generally on Freudian psychoanalysis will be discussed as well as the importance of related temporal concepts deployed in psychoanalysis' insistence on the divide between primitivism and culture. We will discuss a number of major scholarly works engaging Freud's theories on all these questions and their relevance to social and cultural analysis.

CLME G4106. Culture and Power in Iraqi Literature. 3 pts.

This course attempts to meet the increasing need to know Iraqi culture. Through a number of typical Iraqi texts since the Epic of Gilgamesh, the question of power relations and cultural dynamics will be a way to map out an intellectual itinerary of the most ancient civilization and its subsequent histories until the modern period.

CLME W4200y. Themes in the Arabic Novel. 3 pts.

A critical reading of a selection of Arabic novels thematically connected by their representation of displacement defined as the physical dislocation of people (as refugees, immigrants, migrants, exiles, or expatriates). The lectures and class discussions will focus on the interactions between this theme and the textual strategies and discourse by which the notions of identity, community, native culture, and homeland are themselves constructed, displaced, and re-constructed in these novels.

CLME W4220. Survey of Classical Arabic Literature. 3 pts. Prerequisite: MDES W1215 or the equivalent. Lectures, readings, and discussions.

CLME W4221. Survey of Modern Arabic Literature. 3 pts. Prerequisite: MDES W1215 or the equivalent. Lectures, readings, and discussions.

MDES G4240y. Survey of Islamic Science. 3 pts. No language requirements. A survey of the scientific tradition of Islam from its earliest times until the end of the Middle Ages.

MDES G4241. Education and Educational Institutions In Medieval Islam. 3 pts. Knowledge of a European language, preferably French, is highly recommended. A survey of the origins and development of educational institutions in medieval Islam, with special reference to mosque schools (Madrasah), hospitals, observatories, and libraries. Educational material, paper and books.

MDES G4244y. Arab Society and Culture. 3 pts.

This course is intended for upper division undergraduate and graduate students. It introduces the student to the major social and cultural issues of the Arab world, as examined through various theoretical perspectives in the anthropological and sociological literature. It is hoped that the course will provide the student with the analytical tools s/he needs to take more specialized courses on the general topic.

MDES G4253y. Islamic Law: The Three Debates. 3 pts. Prerequisites:ASCM V2003 or equivalent.

This seminar deals with three paradigmatic sets of questions in the history of Islamic law, each set representing and encompassing key themes pertaining to three important historical phases. Long-standing debates on the "origins" of the Shari'a will be explored, as will the constitution of the formative period, which is variably claimed to stretch from two to four centuries. Scholarship on this period will be examined as ideology. In the second set of questions, squarely situated in the post-formative period (ca. 11th - 17th c.) we examine the relationship between and among social custom, juridical practice and formal legal doctrine, discussing in outline the structural mechanisms the Shari'a has developed to accommodate legal change. Scholarship on this period and on what the features of this period came to represent in the overall constructed history of the Shari'a will also be examined as ideology. In the third set of questions, we analyze so-called legal reform and the role of state in converting the Shari'a to a modern institution that is qualitatively different from its pre-modern predecessor. Scholarship on the Shari'a in the modern period will also be examined as ideology. Finally, but not necessarily at the end of the course, we will pose questions about the nature of interpretation and language in the construction of a paradigmatic idea (and history) of the Shari'a.

MDES G6210x. Readings In Classical Arabic Texts. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010. Readings and analysis of texts, with discussion of the nature and development of the genres within the context of Islamic thought. One genre covered each term.

CLME G6220y (Section 001). Arabian Nightism. 3 pts. Prerequisites: Arabic Traces literary appropriations in Western and Arabic cultures whenever they manifest or valorize a cultural encounter. With a focus on the composite and the diverse in these tales, their transgression and undermining of lifestyles and patterns of behavior. The seminar makes use of contemporary theory to open canons and interrogate paradigmatic patterning in dealing with Arablic culture. Knowledge of Arabic required.

MDES G6221. Arabs and Others, Narrative Encounters. 3 pts. This seminar argues the case of Arabs and Otherness in terms of historical and cultural dynamics beyond the simplifications of approval or total rejection. Looked upon in terms of discourse analysis with good use, also, of both Lacan and new-historicism, we study encounter narratives, before reaching "awakening texts," modernity encounters, and subsequent modernist narration that explodes stereotyping predications.

CLME G6222x. Arabian Nights in the Narrative Tradition. Prerequisites: Knowledge of Arabic Required for MEALAC majors who wish to take this course. The purpose of this course is to study the Thousand and One Nights in the narrative tradition. With focus on the composite and diverse nature of the tales, students are encouraged to study classical and modern narratives, their transgression, and undermining of life styles and patterns of behavior. The seminar follows up narrative techniques as interwoven into socio-political complexity. It makes use of contemporary theory to open up canons and interrogate paradigmatic patterning in dealing with Arabic culture.

CLME G6230x. Studies In Classical Arabic Literature. 3 pts.

CLME G6231. Studies in Modern Arabic Literature. 3 pts. This is a course designed to help students who are at the high intermediate and advanced level of reading in Arabic language to read modern Arabic literary works, in both poetry and prose. Class discussions will focus on the qualities and subtleties of these works that might be lost in translation.

MDES G6242y. Turath & Modernity. Not offered in 2009-2010.

MDES G6781y. Qur'anic Studies: An Introduction to Islamic Scripture and Exegesis. 3 pts.

This is a graduate-level colloquium for the study of the text of Muslim scripture, i.e. the Qur'an, in the light of the rich and varied exegetical tradition that has developed around this text. The course begins with an outline of the structure and contents of the Qur'an, and introduces students to a wide range of sources and methodologies for studying it. The historical context for the formation of Muslim scripture is sketched. Issues of coherence, textual relations and variant readings are discussed from the viewpoint of classical Muslim writers as well as that of modern exegetes - academic and otherwise. Debates about dating, integrity, and authenticity of the text, as well as the relationship between Islamic and pre-Islamic scriptures are similarly addressed. The historical development of the genre of tafsir-writing is explored, and such matters of inquiry as scriptural abrogation, ambivalence, occasions of revelation, etc are examined. Examples are drawn from various sub-genres of tafsir; such as hadith-based, philosophical, and modernist frameworks of exegesis.

MDES G8031x (Section 001). Politics of Desire. 3 pts. Prerequisites: Advanced Proficiency in Arabic required. Undergraduates must obtain permission from instructor.

This seminar explores a century-long rich Arab intellectual debate about sex in the past of the Arabs and its implications for the present. The aim of the seminar is to retrieve from scholarly obscurity an archive of modern writings on the classical history of the Arabs. Course will be in English, advanced reading ability in Arabic required.

MDES G8280. Study in Gender and Sexuality in the Arab World. 3 pts. This course aims to familiarize graduate students with the different methods and approaches that U.S. and European scholars have used to study gender and sexuality in other societies generally, and the way they study them in the context of the Arab world specifically.

MDES G8280x. Gender and Sexuality in the Arabic World. 3 pts. Prerequisites: Instructor permission required

MDES G9220. Seminar In Arabic Literature. 3 pts.

CLME W4304y. Politics of World Art History: The Case of Armenian Medieval Art. 3 pts.

A contextual and methodological exploration of the histories of art history utilizing the specific case of representation of Armenian medieval art in art history survey texts from the nineteenth century to the present. The course is theoretical and interdisciplinary and touches upon the issues of nationalism, orientalism, imperialism, cultural politics, educational policies, art historical methodology and politcs.

CLME W4322. Literature and Catastrophe. 3 pts. Readings on survivors' testimonies and philosophical accounts of the Jewish Holocaust and the Armenian Catastrophe. Focus on the status of the witness and the limits of literary representation.

MDES W4324y. Critical Approaches to Displacement, Memory & Music: The Case of Armenians in Turkey. 3 pts.

This course aims at reconsidering the concept of "displacement" in multiple levels, especially focusing on music and memory. Its major objective is to develop critical perspectives to discuss the conditions of "being displaced" and "being at home" in relation to the minoritized groups' experiences within nationalized territories. Lectures will have a special emphasis on the Armenian community of Istanbul.

MDES W4340. Armenians and Armenia In the Modern Period. 3 pts. Development of Armenian national consciousness in the modern period up to the 1980's, within the social and political context of wider states, but without losing track of the peculiar Armenian experience.

MDES G9330x-G9331y. Seminar In Armenian Texts. Not offered in 2009-2010.

Prerequisite: MDES W4312-W4313. Survey of the major phases of development in the historic period from the 5th to 19th centuries and investigation of the variation in linguistic register characteristics of different literary genres.

MDES G9330x. Readings In Armenian Texts. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010.

MDES W4251x. Introduction to Political Thought in the Modern Middle East. 3 pts.

This graduate/undergraduate course does not presuppose a background in Middle East studies or political science. This introductory course traces the intellectual history of contemporary Muslim politics, and political thinking in the Middle East/North Africa. It ends with a study of contemporary figures such as 'Abdolkarim Soroush of Iran and Hassan Hanafi of Egypt. It begins with Khayr al-Din, the prime minister of the Ottoman imperial regency of Tunis in the middle of the nineteenth century. The course proceeds in chronological order through such themes and epochs as: Islamic modernism, the controversy over the abolition/restoration of an Islamic Caliphate, feminism, Young Ottoman constitutionalism, Turkish and Arab nationalisms, social justice and the Muslim Brothers in Egypt, resistance to colonialism (in Algeria, inter al.), and revolutionary Shi'ism in Iran. The course explicates the historical milieux, explores the biographies, and engages with the writings, of Arab, Turkish and Iranian intellectuals likely to include Rifa'at al-Tahtawi, Jamal al-Din 'al-Afghani', Muhammad 'Abduh, Namik Kemal, Abdullah Cevdet, 'Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi, Qasim Amin, Rashid Ridda, 'Ali 'Abd al-Raziq, Ziya Gökalp, Sayyid Qutb, Frantz Fanon, and 'Ali Shariati. The requirements for the course are two exams and a paper on a topic of the student's design.

MDES G8001-G8002. Supervised Readings. 1-6 pts. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: instructor's permission.

HSME G8850x (Section 001). History and Historiography. 3 pts. This course looks at the methodologies historians use in obtaining sources, both questioning and criticizing current and past method. The course also considers the ways in which something can be "made historical" through constructs and design.

CLME W3528. Exemplary Moments In Hebrew Literature. 3 pts. A historically broad range of texts from the Hebrew Tradition, with emphasis on notions of tradition, the history of the Hebrew language and its literature.

MDES W3540. Introduction To Modern Hebrew Culture. 3 pts. Introduction to modern, secular Hebrew culture of the last two hundred years, to distinguish it from the continuity of traditional Jewish culture, delineate some of its salient features and hint at its scope and depth.

CLME W4520. Post-Zionism/Post-Modern Hebrew Prose. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010. The course examines the development of Hebrew letters and society since the 1967 War up to the present. By reading postmodern literary theory and historiographical material by "new historians" contemporary Hebrew prose will serve as an arena where society and its discontents are acted out. Some of the authors that will be read, such as Amos Oz, A.B. Yehoshua and Yehoshua Kenaz, have begun their literary activity before the 1967 War and will therefore serve as a case study in social and literary change. Other more recent authors such as Hanoch Levin, Orly Castel Bloom and Yoel Hoffman will be read as well, providing an ample survey of contemporary Israeli fiction in its social, political and historical context.

MDES W4520. New Israeli Writing. 3 pts.

CLME G4524. East and West in Israeli Culture. Not offered in 2009-2010. This course sets out to examine the categories of East (Mizrahim) and West (Ashkenazim) as they play out in the unique space of Israeli culture. Born out of European rejection of the Jew (Semite), Zionism developed a tortuous relationship with European colonialism. This ambivalence informed the encounter with the Arabs, informing the categories of the war of 48. Only to further mutate when the state absorbed a Jewish population of more than twice its original size, originating mainly in "Eastern" countries. The result was the creation of the Mizrahim (literally Easterners) as part of the melting pot that was designed to purge the new comers of their past, effacing their present. The story of these categories and the way Literature and Film have done and outdone them is the focal point of this critical inquiry.

CLME W4525. Bible As Literature. 3 pts.

CLME G4530x. Conflict (Non) Resolution. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010.

An examination of culture and the role it plays in mediating conflict should help elucidate the nature of modern Zionist culture and the conflicting and sometimes paradoxical position of the Jews within.

MDES W4531. Jewish Passivity In Modern Jewish Literature. 3 pts. Major representations of Jewish passivity in poetry and prose.

MDES W4532. S.J. Agnon and Tradition. 3 pts. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of Hebrew. The fiction of S.J. Agnon as a literary nexus which ties modernity and the Jewish religious tradition. The Weltanschauung thematics and generic and stylistic development of Agnon's work analyzed as manifestations of confluence.

MDES W4532. S.J. Agnon and Tradition. 3 pts. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of Hebrew. The fiction of S.J. Agnon as a literary nexus which ties modernity and the Jewish religious tradition. The Weltanschauung thematics and generic and stylistic development of Agnon's work analyzed as manifestations of confluence.

CLME G6. Israeli Literature: From Commitment To Dissent. 3 pts.

CLME G6. The Living Bible In Israeli Literature. 3 pts.

CLME G6. A Land of Many Cultures-Literature and Culture In Contemporary Israel. 3 pts.

CLME G6507x. Cultural History of Modern Hebrew Poetry. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010. Prerequisites: Knowledge of Hebrew required

Zionist modern nationality relied on both traditional but also, and mostly, newly invented culture to assert its subjectivity. The course readings will include studies of the poetics of the era, especially the poetics of Hebrew Romanticism, Modernism, and the Avant-Garde. This will enable the students to follow the developments in form and theme of Modern Hebrew Poetry. The course, then, will propose and analyze a broad approach to Modern Hebrew Poetry. This is a 6 week course. Readings will be in Hebrew.

MDES G6520. The Fiction of Sh. Y. Abramovitsch. 3 pts. Theoretical issues related to the career of Sh. Y. Abramovitsch, widely regarded as the founding father of the modern art of fiction of both Hebrew and Yiddish. A reading knowledge of Hebrew or Yiddish is necessary.

CLME G6521x. Cultural History of Modern Hebrew Poetry. 3 pts. The course will follow the transformations of Hebrew subjectivity as constructed in Hebrew poetry throughout the 20th century. The course will draw on the role of poetics since the beginning of Modernism, the emegence of Eretz Israel Avant Garde and up to the post-modernist moment of Hebrew poetry in the State of Israel. The development of Hebrew poetry will be studied as it plays the role of an active agent in the cultural and social conflicts of the 20th century.

MDES G6522x. The Modern Jewish Literary Complex. 3 pts.

MDES G6523. The Prophetic Mode In Modern Hebrew Poetry. 3 pts.

CLME G6526. Hebrew Between Philosophy and Literature. 3 pts. Advanced seminar on the conceptions of language found in Hebrew texts (literary and philosophical) in medieval and modern texts.

CLME G6530x. Dynamics of Israeli Culture: Fiction and Politics. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010.

The seminar on fiction and politics in Israeli Literature would examine correlations between political attitudes and development of Israeli fiction since the 1970's.

CLME G6530. Dynamics of Israeli Culture: Poetry. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010.

The course will survey the development of Israeli Literature within three time sections and along the evolving process of its three main genres. The time sections are those a) the birth of Israeli literature in the aftermath of the 1948 War (the 1950s); b)the maturation of Israeli literature during the 1960s and 1970s; c) Israeli Literature in the era of the peace process and the Intifadas (1980s and 1990s). The genres are those of lyrical poetry, prose fiction (mainly novels), and drama. The course will also follow the crystallization of three sets of Israeli poetics: the conservative (realistic) one, the modernist, and the post-modernist ones. All texts will be available in English translations. Participation does not depend on former knowledge of Hebrew or Israeli literature.

CLME G6531x. Ethics of Nation Building. 3 pts. This seminar seeks to examine the transformation of Jewish literary revival into a national movement actively engaged in territorial settlement. This will be achieved through readings into the basic layer of Zionist culture, from Herzl's Utopian novel Altneuland to the major writers of the Second Aliya, S.Y. Agnon and Yosef Chayim Brenner. Theoretical readings into theory of nation and nationalism will serve as a framework. Together with readings into the historical context, the course will interrogate the ethics of nation building implicit in the literary works and explicit in the political works, attempting to question the sense of a people and nation and the transformations involved in the rise of Zionism out of European Jewry.

CLME G6532. Senses of Death. 3 pts. Death: end or beginning of a body and of the bodies implied in the body politic. This course will not provide answers to these questions, but will rather attempt to understand the terms of the questions as they are put forth in critical discourse and implied in the literary production focusing mainly on Hebrew literature of the Zionist era.

MDES G8540. Doctoral Seminar. 3 pts. The development of Israeli literature from its origins in the 1950's to the present (including its cultural and social ramifications), and methodologies. Texts by major Israeli poets, novelists, thinkers and literary critics.

MDES G4601x. Politics in India. 3 pts.

This course will combine study of long-term historical sociology with more short term understanding of policies and their possible effects. Though its main purpose will be to provide students with an understanding of politics after independence, it will argue, methodologically, that this understanding should be based on a study of historical sociology - plotting long-terms shifts in the structure of social power. The course will start with analyses of the structures of power and ideas about political legitimacy in pre-modern India, and the transformations brought by colonialism into that order. After a brief study of the nature of political order under the colonial state, the courses will focus primarily on the history of the democratic state after independence.

CLME G4621x or y. Court Cultures of India. 3 pts.

MDES G4652x. Mughal India. 3 pts.

The Mughal period was one of the most dynamic eras in world history, when India was the meeting place of many cultures. Of Timurid ancestry, the earliest Mughal rulers drew upon the heritage of Central Asia in their ruling styles and cultural practices, but they would soon adapt to the complexities of their Indian milieu, which had longstanding traditions that were a blend of Sanskrit and Persian, Hindu and Muslim idioms. European culture, whether filtered through Jesuit sermons, itinerant merchants, or Flemish engravings, was also making inroads into India during this period. This course is a broad cultural history of Mughal India as seen from a range of perspectives and sources. We consider the Mughals' major achievements in visual culture as manifested in painting and architecture, as well as exploring diverse topics in religion, literature, politics, and historiography. Yet another approach is to listen to the voices of the Mughal rulers as recorded in their memoirs, as well as investigating the signal contributions of the dynasty's women.

HSME G6306x (Section 001). History of Modern S. Asia. 3 pts.

CLME G6330x or y. Hindi Texts and Contexts. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010. Prerequisites: Two years of Hindi or instructor permission

Hindi Texts and Contexts introduces students to important authors and works from the Hindi classical tradition. Although Khari Boli has become the dominant form of Hindi since the nationalist period (1920s), most Hindi literature is actually written in a different dialect: Brajbhasha, the main form of written Hindi prior to 1900. In this course students expand their knowledge of Hindi to build reading skills in the older literary dialect. They learn about important Hindi genres, as well as the cultural and stylistic features of classical Hindi literature. Both religious and courtly materials are covered. Short readings in English are designed to complement the primary texts in Hindi with a view to providing students with a good sense of context and so that they learn about recent scholarly trends in the fiel

MDES G6831x or y. India in the Intellectual History of the Early Modern World. 3 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010.

The history of knowledge in early modern India (1500-1800) is a new area of research, and many problems, both substantive and theoretical, remain to be solved. This seminar explores some of the first fruits of scholarship in this area. While concentrating on the Sanskrit disciplines, we will also explore vernacular and Persianate materials. The comparative concerns implicit in the problematic will be made explicit by looking at parallel developments in late-imperial China, the Middle East, and Europe. Some core theoretical problems in intellectual history, especially comparative history, will also be addressed. A major seminar paper will be required.

MDES G9800-G9801. Seminar In Indic Studies, I and II. 3 pts.

MDES W3720. Introduction To Persian Literature. 3 pts. No knowledge of Persian is required. A survey of the genres, styles, literary movements, and major works of Persian literature in a comparative context through translation.

MDES W3750. Social and Intellectual History of Iran: Early Islam To the Safavids. 3 pts. Introduces a wide range of social and intellectual issues and developments in Iranian history from the early Islamic period to the establishment of the Safavids. The inseparable social and intellectual dimensions of the unique cultural experience.

MDES W3751. Social and Intellectual History of Iran: the Safavid Period. 3 pts. The Safavid period and the inseparable social and intellectual dimensions of one unique cultural experience as it developed in flourished under the Safavids.

CLME W3752. Middle Eastern Cinema. 3 pts.

CLME W3753. Iran: a Culture In History. 3 pts. Introduces some of the major aspects of Iranian culture in its ancient, medieval and modern contexts.

MDES G4721x. Epics and Empires: Shahnameh. 3 pts.

CLME W4740. Persian Passion Play: Ta'ziyeh. 3 pts. . A comprehensive examination of one of the richest theatrical traditions in the Middle East.

CLME G4760x. Shi'ites and Shi'ism. 3 pts.

CLME G6722. Readings In Persian Classics: Prose. 3 pts.

CLME G6723. Readings In Persian Classics: Poetry. 3 pts.

MDES G9700-G9701. Seminar In Iranian Studies, I and II. 3 pts.

HSME W1004. Ancient History of Egypt. 3 pts. A survey of the history of ancient Egypt from the first appearance of the state to the conquest of the country by Alexander of Macedon, with emphasis on the political history, with attention to the cultural, social, and economic developments.

MDES W3004. Islam In South Asia: an Introduction. 3 pts.

ASCM W3310. Modern South Asia. 3 pts. Exploration of modern South Asian self-images through reinterpretations of traditional genres and through the work of Gandhi, Premchand, Raja Rao, Anantha Murthy, Ghalib, Faiz, etc. Emphasis on cultural/intellectual issues and their manifestation in literary form.

ASCM W4001. The History, Literature, and Culture of Bengal. 3 pts. An introduction to the history, literature, and culture of Bengal prior to 1947, focusing on important figures, ideological trends, and social structures; Bengali texts in translation; and recent studies on Bengal. Introduction to Indian Civilizations, or the equivalent, is recommended as background.

MDES G6851. India in the Intellectual History of the Early Modern World. 3 pts. The history of knowledge in early modern India (1500-1800) is a new area of research, and many problems, both substantive and theoretical, remain to be solved. This seminar explores some of the first fruits of scholarship in this area. While concentrating on the Sanskrit disciplines, we will also explore vernacular and Persianate materials. The comparative concerns implicit in the problematic will be made explicit by looking at parallel developments in late-imperial China, the Middle East, and Europe. Some core theoretical problems in intellectual history, especially comparative history, will also be addressed. A major seminar paper will be required.

HSME W1002. Ancient History of Mesopotamia and Anatolia. 3 pts. A survey of the political and cultural history of Mesopotamia and Anatolia from prehistory to the disappearance of the cuneiform documentation, with some emphasis on Mesopotamia.

HSME W3013. Science and Astrological Theories In Pre-Modern Times. 3 pts. The development of astrological theories from ancient Babylonia till late medieval times and their impact on the formalization of scientific concepts.

HSME W4467. Persian Political, Social and Cultural History In Ancient Times. 3 pts.

HSME W4468. Persian Political, Social and Cultural History From the Advent of Islam To Modern Times. 3 pts.

HSME W4469. Political, Social and Cultural History of Persia In Modern Times. 3 pts.

HSME G8070. Colloquium On Ancient Mesopotamian History: Urban History. 3 pts.

HSME G8070y (Section 001). Colloquium On Ancient Mesopotamian History: Urban History. instructor permission required Prerequisites: Instructor Permission Study of the role of the city in Ancient Mesopotamian history. Students required to present the archeological and textual material from a selected city.
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MDES W4110. Elements of Old Babylonian Grammar, and Introduction To the Cuneiform Writing System.

MDES W4110-W4111. Elementary Akkadian, I and II. 3 pts.

AHUM W4111. Selected Readings From the Code of Hammurabi and Old Babylonian Letters; Introduction To Standard (Literary) Babylonian.

MDES G6110-G6111. Intermediate Akkadian: Outline of Dialects, I and II. 3 pts.

MDES G8110. Sumero-Akkadian Bilingual Texts. 3 pts.

MDES W1208x-W1209y. Arabic For Heritage Speakers, I and II. 5 pts.

MDES W1210x-W1211y. First Year Arabic, I and II. 5 pts.

An introduction to the language of classical and modern Arabic literature.

MDES W1214x-W1215y. Second Year Arabic, I and II. 5 pts.

Prerequisite: MDES W1210-W1211 or the equivalent. A continuation of the study of the language of contemporary writing.

MDES W4120-W4121. Canaanite and Arabic Inscriptions, I and Ll. 3 pts. Prerequisite: instructor's permission

MDES W4210x-W4211y. Third Year Arabic, I and II. 5 pts.

MDES W4212x. Fourth Year Arabic I: Readings in Modern Arabic Prose. 4 pts.

MDES W4213y. Fourth Year Arabic II: Modern Prose. 4 pts. Prerequisites:MDES W4212

Through reading a full novel, Tayyib Salah's Season of Migration to the North, students will be able to increase their fluency and accuracy in Arabic while working on reading and being exposed to the main themes in modern Arabic literature, acquiring a sense of literary style as well as literary analytical terminology and concepts. The novel will be divided into twelve parts that the students will read in detail, writing critical pieces, engaging in discussion, and having assignments which will expand their vocabulary, manipulation of advanced grammar concepts, and employment of stylistic devices in their writing. The course works with all four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). Arabic is the language of instruction.

MDES W4214-W4215. Composition and Style In Arabic, I and II. 3 pts. Prerequisite: MDES W1214-W1215 or MDES W1216-W1217 or instructor's permission. Emphasis on improving writing skills through weekly compositions; discussions and presentations in Arabic on a variety of topics of interest; review of some grammatical and syntactic rules.

MDES W4214y. Fourth Year Arabic II: Readings in Classical Arabic Prose. 4 pts. Prerequisites:MDES W4212

Through reading excerpts from thirteen essential works, starting with Jabarti's history of the French Campaign in Egypt to a chapter from al-Qur'an, students will be able to increase their fluency and accuracy in Arabic while working on reading text and being exposed to the main themes in Classical Arabic literature, acquire a sense of literary style over a period of fourteen centuries as well as literary analytical terminology and concepts. The texts are selections from essential works that the students will read in detail, write critical pieces, engage in discussion and have assignments which will expand their vocabulary, manipulation of advanced grammar concepts, and employing stylistic devices in their writing. This course will enable students to start doing research in classical Arabic sources and complements MEALAC's graduate seminar Readings in Classical Arabic. The course works with all four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). Arabic is the language of instruction.

MDES W4215x. Advanced Arabic Grammar Review. 2 pts.

Through reading and writing, students will review Arabic Grammar concepts within the context of linguistic functions such as narration, description, comparison, etc. For example, within the function of narration, students will focus on verb tenses, word order, and adverbials. Based on error analysis in the past twelve years that the Arabic Program has been using Al-Kitaab, emphasis will be placed on common and frequent grammatical errors. Within these linguistic functions and based on error analysis, the course will review the following main concepts:

MDES W4230x or y. Media Arabic. Not offered in 2009-2010.

MDES G6212-G6213. Readings In Classical Arabic, III and IV.. 3 pts. Readings and analysis of texts, with discussion of the nature and development of the genres within the context of Islamic thought. One genre is dealt with each term.

PUNJ W1201x-W1202y. Intermediate Punjabi, I and II. 4 pts. Prerequisites:PUNJ W1101-W1102 or the instructor's permission. Further develops a student's writing, reading, and oral skills in Punjabi, a major language of northern India and Pakistan.

MDES W1310x-W1311y. Elementary Armenian I and II. 4 pts.

MDES W1312x-W1313y. Intermediate Armenian, I and II. 4 pts. Prerequisites:MDES W1310-W1311 or the equivalent.

A continuation of the study of reading, writing and speaking of Armenian.

MDES W4310-W4311. Advanced Modern Armenian, I and II. 3 pts. Prerequisite: MDES W1312-W1313 or the equivalent. Advanced instruction in the Armenian dialect.

MDES W1101x-W1102y. Elementary Tamil, I and II. 4 pts.

Introduces students to the basic grammatical and syntactical skills required to function adequately in a Tamil-speaking environment. Of particular interest to students planning to conduct scholarly research or fieldwork in that region of the world. Introduces students to the rich culture of the Indian subcontinent where Tamil is spoken.

BENG W1201x-W1202y. Intermediate Bengali, I and II. 4 pts.

Prerequisite: BENG W1101-W1102 or the instructor's permission.

MDES W1201x-W1202y. Intermediate Tamil, I and II. 4 pts. Prerequisites:TAML W1101-W1102 or the instructor's permission.

Further develops students' written and oral proficiency in order to allow them to function adequately in a Tamil-speaking environment. Of particular interest to students planning to conduct scholarly research or fieldwork in a Tamil-speaking context. Develops the students' appreciation for the rich culture of the Indian subcontinent where Tamil is spoken.

BENG G4632-G4633. Advanced Bengali, I and II. 3 pts. Prerequisite: Bengali MDES W1618-W1619 or instructor's permission.

MDES W1414-W1415. Upper Intermediate Modern Hebrew. 4 pts. An intensive review of the Hebrew verb system; readings, compositions, and discussions in Hebrew.

MDES W1510x. First Year Modern Hebrew: Elementary I. 5 pts.

This is an introductory course for which no prior knowledge is required. Equal emphasis is given to listening, speaking, reading, writing and grammar. Daily homework includes grammar exercises, short answers, reading, or paragraph writing. Frequent vocabulary and grammar quizzes.

MDES W1511y. First Year Modern Hebrew: Elementary II. 5 pts.

Prerequisite: MDES W1510, or the equivalent, based on performance on the placement test. Continued introduction to Hebrew, with equal emphasis on all languages skills. (See MDES W1510.)

MDES W1512x. Second Year Modern Hebrew: Intermediate I. 5 pts. Prerequisites: Prerequisite: MDES W1511 or the equivalent. Students who completed First Year Hebrew at Columbia are required to enroll in section 1. New students are placed in section 1 or 2, based on their performance on the placement test.

Equal emphasis is given to listening, speaking, reading and writing. Regular categories of the Hebrew verb, prepositions, and basic syntax are taught systematically. Vocabulary building. Daily homework includes grammar exercises, short answers, reading, or short compositions. Frequent vocabulary and grammar quizzes.

MDES W1513y. Second Year Hebrew: Intermediate II. 5 pts. Prerequisites:MDES W1512

Equal emphasis is given to all language skills. Irregular categories of the Hebrew verb, prepositions and syntax are taught systematically. Vocabulary building. Daily homework includes grammar exercises, short answers, reading, or writing short compositions. Frequent vocabulary and grammar quizzes. (Students completing this course fulfill Columbia College and Barnard language requirement.)

MDES W1514x. Second Year Modern Hebrew: Upper Intermediate I. 4 pts. Prerequisites: For students who acquired basic knowledge of the language in Hebrew School, and received appropriate scores on the placement test.

Equal emphasis is given to listening, speaking, reading and writing. Regular Hebrew verbs, prepositions, and syntax are taught systematically. Vocabulary building. Daily homework includes grammar exercises, short answers, reading, listening to web-casts, or short compositions. Frequent vocabulary and grammar quizzes.

MDES W1515y. Second Year Hebrew: Upper Intermediate II. 4 pts. Prerequisites:W1514

Equal emphasis is given to all languages skills. Irregular Hebrew verbs, prepositions and syntax are taught systematically. Vocabulary building. Daily homework includes grammar exercises, reading, short answers, short compositions or listening to web-casts. Frequent vocabulary and grammar quizzes. (Students completing this course fulfill Columbia College and Barnard language requirement.)

MDES W1516y. Second Year Hebrew: Intensive Grammar Review. 4 pts. Prerequisites: For students who acquired knowledge of the language in Hebrew school, and who received appropriate scores on the placement test.

This course offers an intensive review of the Hebrew verb system in one semester. (Students completing this course fulfill Columbia College and Barnard language requirement.)

MDES W4510x. Third Year Modern Hebrew I. 4 pts. Prerequisites: Hebrew W1513 or W1515 or the instructor's permission. Students are expected to have basic familiarity with regular and irregular verbs in five categories of the Hebrew verb system: Pa'al, Pi'el, Hif'il, Hitpa'el and Nif'al.

The course focuses on vocabulary building and on development of reading skills, using adapted literary and journalistic texts with and without vowels. Verb categories of Pu'al and Huf'al are taught systematically. Other verb forms are reviewed in context. A weekly hour is devoted to practice in conversation. Daily homework includes reading, short answers, compositions, listening to web-casts, and giving short oral presentations via voice e-mail. Frequent vocabulary quizzes.

MDES W4511y. Third Year Modern Hebrew II. 4 pts. Prerequisites:MDES W4510 or MDES W1515 or the instructor's permission.

Focus on transition from basic language towards authentic Hebrew, through reading of un-adapted literary and journalistic texts without vowels. Vocabulary building. Grammar is reviewed in context. A weekly hour is devoted to practice in conversation. Daily homework includes reading, short answers, short compositions, listening to web-casts, or giving short oral presentations via voice e-mail. Frequent vocabulary quizzes.

MDES W4512x. Fourth Year Modern Hebrew: Readings I. 4 pts. Prerequisites:MDES W4511 or MDES W1515 or MDES W1516 or the instructor's permission. Students are expected to have a good familiarity with the Hebrew verb system, and the ability to read a text without vowels.

This is an advanced course focusing on the development of reading skills using authentic, un-adapted literary, journalistic and academic texts. Verb forms are reviewed in context. In addition to the texts read by the whole class, each student completes two independent reading projects in areas of his/her interest. A weekly hour is devoted to practice in conversation. Daily homework includes reading, composition, listening to web-casts, or giving short oral presentations via voice e-mail. Frequent vocabulary quizzes. Two five page term reports on the independent readings.

MDES W4513y. Fourth Year Hebrew: Readings II. 4 pts. Prerequisites:MDES W4512 or MDES W1516 or MDES W1515, or the instructor's permission. Students must have a good familiarity with the Hebrew verb system, and the ability to read a text without vowels.

This is an advanced course focusing on development of reading comprehension in literary, journalistic and academic texts. In addition to the texts read by the whole class, each student completes two independent reading projects in his/her area of interest. A weekly hour is devoted to practice in conversation. Daily homework includes reading, compositions, listening to web-casts, or short oral presentations via voice e-mail. Frequent vocabulary quizzes. Two five page reports on the independent reading material.

MDES W4515-V4516. Elementary Biblical Hebrew, I and II (In English). 3 pts. An introduction to the Hebrew of the Bible with an emphasis on the development of reading comprehension skills.

MDES W4517-W4518. Intermediate Biblical Hebrew, I and II (In English).. 3 pts. Prerequisite: MDES W4515-W4516 or the equivalent. Vocabulary building, review of biblical grammar, emphasis on the development of reading comprehension skills. Authentic biblical selections read in the second semester of this course.

MDES G9510. Seminar In Hebrew Studies: Selected Problems In Hebrew-English, English-Hebrew Translation. 3 pts. Prerequisite: instructor's permission.

MDES W4610x-W4611y. Readings In Hindi Literature, I and II. 3 pts. Prerequisites:MDES W1613 or the instructor's permission.

Conducted largely in Hindi. Includes reading and discussion of selected literary, social science, historical, and/or journalistic texts. Since the content changes each term, the course may be repeated for credit.

MDES W4612x. Readings in Hindi-Urdu Literature. 4 pts. Prerequisites: Two years of Hindi-Urdu, or permission of the instructor.

This course introduces a range of modern Hindi-Urdu literary texts and trends. From the late nineteenth century Hindi and Urdu authors experimented with genres like the short story and novel, which had been imported through colonial contact, creating a rich array of new (and sometimes hybrid) literary offerings. In this course we read select authors from the canon of modern fiction, while also touching on the most salient literary historical and cultural currents taking place in the world outside the texts. Students will also be exposed to select works of secondary literature and a few genres and poets of historical importance. Students develop their skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening, as well as working with advanced grammar topics and learning new idioms. While it is preferred that all students develop their skills in both Hindi and Urdu scripts, students who know only one script may also be admitted to the course with the permission of the instructor.

MDES W4613y. Hindi-Urdu: An Overview. 4 pts. Prerequisites: Completion of Intermediate Hindi-Urdu or consent of instructor.

A review and overview of the shared Khari Boli grammar, of both scripts, and of the linguistic and literary history of Hindi-Urdu. The course will solidify your knowledge, introduce you to new resources, and prepare you to do scholarly work in either script. Students will have a chance to plan and conduct a number of 'TBA' class hours according to their own interests; these classes are usually very enjoyable.

MDES W4635x-W4636y. Readings In Urdu Literature, I and II. 3 pts. Prerequisites:MDES W4630 or the instructor's permission.

Conducted largely in Urdu. Includes reading and discussion of selected literary, social science, historical, and/or journalistic texts. Since the content changes each term, the course may be repeated for credit.

MDES W1710x-W1711y. Elementary Persian, I and II. 4 pts.

An introduction to the spoken and written language of contemporary Iran.

MDES W1712x-W1713y. Intermediate Persian, I and II. 4 pts.

Prerequisite: MDES W1710-W1711 or the equivalent. A general review of the essentials of grammar; practice in spoken and written Persian; Arabic elements in Persian; selected readings emphasizing Iranian life and culture; materials from Tajikistan and Afghanistan, Indari.

MDES W1713y. Intermediate Persian, II. 4 pts. Not offered in 2009-2010.

MDES W4710x-W4711y. Advanced Persian, I and II. 3 pts.

MDES W4720-W4721. Readings In Middle Iranian, I and II. 3 pts. W4720: readings in Zoroastrian texts, inscription Pahlavi. W4721: readings in Parthian and Middle Persian Manichaean texts.

MDES G6720. Modern Persian Writing (Fiction).. 3 pts. Readings in Persian

MDES G6721. Modern Persian (Drama).. 3 pts. Readings in Persian.

MDES W1810-W1811. Elementary Nepali, I and II. 4 pts. An introduction to the language of Nepal and the Eastern Himalayas.

MDES W1812-W1813. Intermediate Nepali, I and II. 4 pts. Intermediate Nepali, I and II

PUNJ W1816-W1817. Elementary Punjabi, I and II. 4 pts. An introduction to Punjabi, a major language of northern India and Pakistan. Beginning with the study of the Gurmukhi script, the course offers an intensive study in the speaking, reading and writing of the language.

PUNJ W1818-W1819. Intermediate Punjabi, I and II. 4 pts. Prerequisite: MDES W1816-W1817 or instructor's permission.

PUNJ W4818-W4819. Readings In Punjabi, I and II.. 3 pts. Prerequisite: two years of course work in Punjabi, or instructor's permission. An introduction to Punjabi religion and culture through the reading and textual analysis of literary works. Beginning with the writings of Shiakh Farid in the 12th century, the course concentrates on major literary texts of the 17th and 20th centuries.

MDES W4810x-W4812y. Advanced Sanskrit, I and II. 4 pts. Prerequisites: Two years of Sanskrit or instructor permission

The two levels of advanced Sanskrit are typically given in alternate years. In 2005-06, kavya and alankarasastra will be offered; in 2006-07, mimamsa and nyaya. Additional courses, including Introduction to Panini and Introduction to the Literary Prakrits, are also available periodically. Final examinations will be required of all students in the first year of Advanced Sanskrit. In the second year, students are required to prepare a research project in lieu of the examination. This may be a research paper, a book or articles review, a bibliographical study, a translation, or whatever will advance the student's research capabilities.

MDES G6810-G6811. Readings In Sanskrit, I and II. 3 pts.

MDES G4116-G4117. Beginning Sumerian, I and II. 3 pts. Introduction to the basic grammar with selected readings of the different types of text available.

MDES G4919y. Intermediate Ottoman Turkish. 3 pts.

MDES G6910-G6911. Advanced Sumerian, I and II. 3 pts. Advanced readings of Sumerian texts.

TAML W1814-W1815. Elementary Tamil, I and II. 4 pts.

MDES W4910. Advanced Spoken Turkish. 3 pts.

MDES G4921. Ottoman Turkish Literature, I.. 3 pts. No knowledge of Turkish is required. Introduction to the classical Islamic literature of the Ottoman Turks. Their literature and role in relation to Arabic, Persian Central Asian and Ottoman society.

MDES G4922. Ottoman Turkish Literature, II. 3 pts. Prerequisite: MDES G4921 or the equivalent. A continuation of the study of Ottoman classical literature, with readings and analysis of texts for students with a reading proficiency at MDES W1913 level.

MDES G8910-G8911. Studies In Ottoman Texts, I and II. 3 pts. Readings and analysis of selected texts taken from works in the fields of history, diplomatics, geography, and from literary writings

MDES G9900-G9901. Seminar In Turkic Studies. 3 pts. Prerequisite: instructor's permission.

MDES G4000. Research In the Humanities: a Practicum On Resources and Methods. 1.5 pts. Introduction to bibliographic resources and their organization in both printed and electronic formats that are fundamental to advanced research. Conceptual and theoretical issues attending the integration of technology into research in the humanities and history explored.

MDES G4000. Practicum In Foreign Language Pedagogy. 3 pts. Registration is by permission of foreign language departments only. This course is designed to offer training in foreign language pedagogy to teaching assistants (TA) in the foreign language departments.