College of Arts and Sciences

Course Descriptions

islamic civilization and societies

EC277 Economics of the Middle East (Spring: 3)

Kazemi

EN408 Islamic Women’s Writing (Fall: 3)

Kalpana Seshadri

FA174 Islamic Art and Civilization (Fall: 3)
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

This course introduces students to the rich culture produced in the regions where Islam was the prominent religion during the past 1400 years, from its rise in seventh-century Arabia to its position as the world's fastest-growing religion in the twenty-first century. It will cover the tenets of the faith and popular practice as reflected in the diverse and varied cultural expressions of Muslim peoples in the worlds of Islam from China to Morocco.
Sheila Blair

FA176 Jerusalem (Fall: 3)
  • Enrollment is limited to 12, with preference given to first-year students

Jerusalem--a unique city; holy to and contested by the three great monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. To understand the conflicting claims, this seminar will explore the history and changing perception of the city over three thousand years through not only scripture and written sources, but also through the study of physical remains, including archaeology, architecture, and art, and how representations of Jerusalem in art and cartography have changed over the centuries. This interdisciplinary seminar is designed to introduce students, particularly freshmen, to a broad range of topics in the study of Art History, Middle Eastern, and Islamic Studies. 
Jonathan Bloom

FA203 Great Cities of the Islamic Lands
  • Offered periodically

Contrary to common stereotyping, Islam has traditionally been an urban culture. Its cities were some of the biggest in medieval times and their products the finest money could buy. This course examines ten Islamic metropolises, ranging from Jerusalem in the 17th century to Delhi in the 70th century. Two class lectures will be devoted to each city. In general, the first will cover the urban fabric and buildings; the second, the wares produced there and the artistic and cultural setting.
Sheila Blair

FA213 Introduction to Islamic Art and Architecture
  • Offered periodically
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

This course examines the development of Islamic art and architecture through a variety of different approaches. In class we will examine a dozen masterpieces of Islamic art and architecture and their settings. The examples are drawn from many media, arranged chronologically, and spread geographically throughout the Islamic lands.
Sheila Blair

FA214 The Art of the Silk Road
  • Offered periodically

The seminar is intended to introduce students to the transcontinental trade in objects and ideas that occurred between China and the Mediterranean from pre-historic to modern times. The course encompasses a vast subject, both chronologically and geographically, treating the arts produced over some four millennia and one-quarter of the globe.
Sheila Blair 

FA234 Mosques, Minarets, and Madrasas (Spring: 3)
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

The course surveys the history of architecture in the Islamic lands from its beginnings in seventh-century Arabia to modern times in North Africa and West and South Asia. The course will focus on the development of religious architecture, especially the mosque, in the Arab, Persian and Turkish-speaking lands, but palaces, houses, tombs, gardens, and urbanism will also be considered.
Jonathan Bloom

FA235 Arts of Persia (Fall: 3)
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

Persia, also known as Iran, has one of the oldest civilizations in the world, stretching back at least 5,ooo years. This seminar introduces students to the myriad arts produced there, from the painted ceramics made by the first settlers through the glories of Persepolis and the building of 16th century Isfahan, lauded in its time as half the world, to the posters used to foment revolution in the 20th century.
Sheila Blair

FA276 Islamic Art (Fall: 3)
  • Satisfies Arts Core requirement
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

This course explores the great variety of architecture and art produced in the Islamic lands from Spain to India between the seventh and 17th centuries through the study of about a dozen masterpieces, ranging from great mosques to illustrated manuscripts. Particular emphasis will be placed on understanding works of art in their technical, historical, and social contexts.
Jonathan Bloom

FA280 Masterpieces of Islamic Art (Spring: 3)
  • Offered periodically

A detailed examination of a dozen masterpieces of Islamic art ranging from architecture to ceramics, the seventh century to the present, and Spain to India. Emphasis on placing the works in their historical, social, craft, and visual contexts.
Jonathan Bloom

FA350 The Art of the Object/Islamic Art (Fall: 3)
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

Unlike in other traditions, much Islamic art comprises everyday objects--dishes, bowls, jugs, bottles, etc.--that are transformed into works of art by their forms and decoration. This seminar focuses on the manufacture, function, collection and exhibition of these objects.
Sheila Blair

FA409 The Art of the Islamic Book (Spring: 3)
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

Muslims revere the Koran as God's word revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century, and consequently writing and books became a major art form in Islamic culture. This course traces the development of this distinctive tradition, with first-hand examination of the superb examples in Boston-area collections.
Sheila Blair

FA410 Orientalism (Spring: 3)
  • Offered periodically

This seminar will allow students to investigate various topics in Orientalism, the use or depiction of Middle Eastern themes in Western art and architecture, particularly during the 19th century. The seminar will address both historical and theoretical approaches to Orientalism and the criticism of it.
Jonathan Bloom

FA412/HS609 Cairo: City of 1001 Nights (Fall: 3)

Cairo was founded by Muslim armies near a Roman fort in the seventh century and enlarged by subsequent rulers. It has been the center of Arab-Islamic civilization since the 13th century and is now the most populous city in Africa and the Middle East. This seminar will explore Cairo’s history through its architecture and art, with a particular emphasis on the period between 1000 and 1500. Students, who should have some familiarity with Middle Eastern or art history, will research and present a topic of their choice.
Jonathan Bloom

FM314 Cinema of the Greater Middle East (Fall/Spring: 3)
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

Cinema shapes the way we view a culture, but in order for a film to reveal that culture, we must view the film with an understanding of the context in which it was created. In this course we will look at several films from the Greater Middle East and study their artistic aspects as well as the cultures within which they were shot. We will also explore the various points of view of the filmmakers, and look into how the scripts and the shooting styles serve to accomplish their goals.
Pamela Berger 

HS207 Islamic Civilization in the Middle East (Spring: 3)
  • Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS001 through HS094
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

Islam has been a dominant element in the Middle East since Muhammad first preached at the beginning of the seventh century. Muhammad was both prophet and statesman and the impact of this joint mission has been felt through the centuries. What have been the major achievements of the religio-centric culture at the strategic cross-roads of Asia, Africa, and Europe? This course explores the relation of Islam to the religions of late antiquity, the religious system of Islam, political and military trends, social and economic tensions, and movements for reform and religious revival.
Dana Sajdi

HS208 Middle East in the 20th Century

Benjamin Braude

HS300.22 Study and Writing of History: Arabian Nights (Spring 2007-2008: 3)
  • Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS001 through HS094, history major status

This seminar will examine the history of the famous Arabic popular oral romance, "A Thousand and One Nights," from its earliest Indian roots to its passage in Iran, to its incubation in medieval Baghdad, Damascus, and Cairo to its "discovery" by Victorian gentlemen, its adaptation to music and dance, to its latest reincarnation in the animated film Aladdin, to its invocation by contemporary Arab poets and novelists. Underlying the movement of the "Arabian Nights" from a regional Arabic popular romance to world literature is the colonial project. Thus, the history of the "Arabian Nights" from Baghdad to Hollywood touches on a wide range of important issues, including oral and written culture, literary transitions to modernity, gender and sexuality, Orientalism, the colonial encounter, and post-colonial condition. Students will learn how to treat different media of representation as sources for history and to discover in these cultural products clues, myths, and testaments relating to politics, society, and economy.
Dana Sajdi

HS315 Islam in South Asia (Fall: 3)

Prassanon Parthasarathi

HS326/PO420 Modern Iran (Spring: 3)
  • Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS001 through HS094
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement
  • Offered periodically
  • Fulfills Non-Western requirement for history majors

This course will provide an analysis of the trends and transformations in the political, social and cultural history of Iran from the late nineteenth century to the present. Emphasis will be placed on the following: structural changes in the Iranian economy and society in the latter part of the 19th century; social and religious movements; the constitutional revolution of 1905-1911; changing relations between Iran and the West; Iran's experience as a modernizing state, 1925-1979; cultural roots and the social-structural causes of the Iranian Revolution of 1977-1979; economic and political developments since the revolution; and Iran's current regional and international role.
Ali Banuazizi

HS339 Byzantium and Islam

Benjamin Braude

HS343 Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire

Benjamin Braude
HS344 The History and Historiography of the Arab-Israeli Conflict (Spring: 3)

This course introduces students to the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict from the inception of the Zionist movement in the 19th century until the end of the 20th century. Given that history itself is a site of contestation in this conflict, the course will focus equally on the various and conflicting historical narratives, and will explore fundamental issues in the relationship between history writing and ideology, especially the use of history as a tool for the shaping of collective identities, and for legitimizing and justifying nationalist claims. The course is divided into three parts. The first part offers some recent critical theories on nationalism and history writing in general. The second part offers narrative history in which an extensive use of original documents is made. The third part focuses on select recent problems and debates in pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli history writing, with special attention to the application of theories presented in the first part of the course. Students are advised that this is not a political science, conflict resolution, or policy course. While it will provide the necessary background for understanding current events, the course is about history and a critical stance to historiography.
Dana Sajdi

HS353 Africa, Islam and Europe (Fall: 3)
  • Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS001 through HS094
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement
  • Offered periodically
  • Fulfills Non-Western requirement for history majors

This course examines the patterns of relations of the people of sub-Saharan Africa with the Islamic world and Europe from the tenth century to the present. Using a comparative perspective, it examines trading relations (including European and Islamic slave trades), religion and culture (including education and literacy), political and military formation, and changing social and gender relations. This course concludes with the examination of recent conflicts and cooperation among African Muslims and Christians. Reading includes autobiographies and other primary sources.
David Northrup

HS365 Odysseys in the Western and the Islamic Traditions (Spring: 3)

Bridging the traditional divide between "East" and "West/"Christendom" and "Islamdom" and viewing cultural production as rooted in the human experience, this course focuses upon similar literary and intellectual trajectories across Europe and the Middle East. We will examine a series of parallel texts that span the genres of epic, poetry, biography, autobiography, and travel narrative. Students will be asked to read these texts in two ways: as an individual perspective (male or female) and as an odyssey--a literary repository of socio-cultural transformation and exchange. Each week will be devoted to situating a particular text within its historical and literary contexts. Students will thus be introduced not only to "great books" but also to the methods of intellectual and cultural history.
Dana Sajdi and Sarah Ross

HS385 Modern South Asia (Fall: 3)

Prassanon Parthasarathi

HS412 The Crusades (Fall: 3)
  • Prerequisite: Any two semesters of HS001 through HS095
  • Offered periodically

This course will examine the crusading movement from its 11th century beginnings to the fall of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1292. Incorporating Christian, Muslim, and Jewish perspectives, the central themes of the course will include: the development of concepts of Holy War, East-West relations and influences, and the formation of "European" cultural identity. Examining these issues will help us to raise questions about religious tolerance, persecution, and cultural exchange in the pre-modern world.
Alizah Holstein

HS610 The City in the Pre-Modern Eastern Mediterranean (Spring: 3)

Islamic culture has often been described as decidedly urban. While this view is colored by an evident bias deriving from the extant sources, Islamic urban history remains one of the richest subfields. In addition, given their location in the heartland of the Old World, and their status as major trading centers, many cities of the Islamic Mediterranean constituted living testaments of entangled histories. This seminar offers a history of the cities of the Islamic Eastern Mediterranean, on the one hand, and examines and juxtaposes different approaches to the study of the city, on the other. The seminar will treat the establishment of new towns and the appropriation of older urban centers by Arab Muslims in the seventh century, and trace their development over roughly a millennium. Through select examples of major trade and/or cultural centers (such as Cairo, Baghdad, Aleppo, Damascus, and Salonica/Thessaloniki) we will explore how different cities were planned, lived, and governed, and the different institutions that allowed these urban centers to exist and flourish.
Dana Sajdi

HS666 Travelers and Spices: Lawrence of Arabia

Benjamin Braude

HS667 Jews under Islam

Benjamin Braude 

IC199/HS171/TH174/FA174 Islamic Civilization (Fall: 3)

This course introduces the varieties of Islamic civilization from the seventh century to the modern world. It explores not only the tenets of faith and practice, and political, social, theological, and economic history, but also the diverse cultural expressions of Muslims through the verbal and visual arts from Indonesia to Morocco and in the Western world. Students will read primary sources, look at works of art, listen to recordings, and view films. The course will emphasize the variety of experiences of Muslims and their contributions to world cultures.

Jonathan Bloom/Sheila Blair, James Morris, Dana Sajdi

 

PO403 Rise and Rule of Islamic States (Fall: 3)

This course explores the nature of Islamic political systems from the Arab caliphates, Mongol Khanates and Turkic conquests to the problems and prospects faced by Muslim states today. The modern states to be examined include Turkey, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, as well as Muslim enclaves inside Russia such as Chechnya. Islamic philosophy, religion, and culture will also be treated.
Kathleen Bailey

PO414 Politics and Society in Central Eurasia (Spring: 3)

This course explores political systems and contemporary society in Central Eurasia and devotes special attention to ethnic relations among the various peoples of the region. Greater Central Asia constitutes the western part of Inner Asia, stretching from the Caspian Sea to Xinjiang Province in China, from Chechnya in the north to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the south. It belongs culturally to the Islamic world. The region has been impacted by the imperial policies of the Soviet Union and China, by the rise of nationalism, and by religious radicalism, terrorism, and war. Reform strategies and models will be discussed.
Kathleen Bailey

PO449 Domestic Politics in Postwar Europe (Spring: 3)

This course examines civil society and parliamentary democracy in Western Europe since World War II.  What are the distinctive features of European political systems?  How have the major political cleavages developed and changed in the last sixty years?  Material will cover institutions and political participation in several countries, from prime ministers and presidents to political parties and social movements.  We will consider the influence of Europeanization and regional movements on domestic politics.  The course will also pay particular attention to the political impact of mass labor migration, including the mergence of right wing parties and contemporary politics of cultural diversity.

Jonathan Laurence

PO450 Seminar: France and the Muslim World (Fall: 3)
  • Prerequisite: Previous coursework (or study abroad) in European or Middle East politics and/or knowledge of French language is required
  • Permission of the instructor is required

Expeditions, protectorates, colonies, migrations, wars, world cups. . . . For over two centuries, the French Republic (and Empire) has had a complex and occasionally tormented relationship with the Muslim world. The exchange of ideas, politics--and, eventually, populations--have permanently transformed all parties involved. Sometimes serving as a beacon of freedom and enlightenment, the French relationship with its Mediterranean neighbors has at other times been fraught with tensions. This seminar will examine France’s relationships with the Muslim world and with its own Muslim population--through political science texts and with the aid of films and novels.
Jonathan Laurence

PO475 Politics and Oil in the Gulf

This course addresses the problems of state formation, state-society relations, democratization, the rise of Islamism and regime stability in Kuwait and other oil-rich Arab Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia. It also assesses the implications for foreign policy, oil export levels, and regional balancing of the GCC states. The impact of oil on domestic politics and foreign policy are examined--in particular, the ruling family’s success in the trade-off of wealth for regional power and political continuity. Despite this pact, pressures for political liberalization and civil society formation are growing, and have resulted in an independent National Assembly as well as an increased number of groups (Islamist, women’s, professional, human rights) outside of state control. 

Kathleen Bailey, David Deese

PO502 U.S.-Iran Relations since World War II
PO518 Liberalism, Nation Building, and U.S. Foreign Policy (Spring: 3)

What are the historical roots and contemporary implications of liberal and democratic ideas in American foreign policy? In what ways have liberalism and democracy shaped presidential foreign policy doctrines and priorities? How have foreign policy leaders attempted to spread core ideas and institutions to other countries? In particular, how have key American officials understood the relationship between markets and democracy? To what extent might U.S. policies and decisions be expected to spread liberalism to countries in the Middle East? Finally, what can be learned from the continuing cases of "nation-building" in Afghanistan and Iraq?
David A. Deese

PO638 Islamic Political Philosophy (Fall: 3)

What is the relationship between philosophy and Islam? Does the divine law (Shari'a) need to be supplemented with purely rational reflections on the nature and purpose of political life? What is the place of toleration and individual rights in the Islamic legal and philosophic tradition? We will explore these and similar questions by focusing on two particularly fertile periods of Islamic thought: the encounter of Islam with Greek philosophy in the classical period and its encounter with the modern secular West in late modernity.
Nasser Behnegar

PO806 Political Cultures of the Middle East (Spring: 3)
  • Graduate Course

This graduate seminar explores the role of political culture in the domestic politics and foreign policy of several Middle Eastern countries. Topics will include: conceptions of legitimacy and political leadership, particularly in relation to religious authority; rights vs. obligations as bases for defining the relationship between the individual and the state; the role of religion in private and public spheres; the distinction between the self (ingroup) and "other" (outgroup) in shaping ethnic, religious, and national identities; citizenship and the rights of minorities; and generational, socioeconomic, and gender differences in political values and attitudes.
Ali Banuazizi

PO812 State-Church Relations in Modern Europe (Spring: 3)
  • Graduate Course

Freedom of worship is a signature characteristic of democratic states, and yet governments have often had an uneasy relationship with organized religion. This seminar examines the evolution of policies and institutions that have accommodated and regulated religious exercise in Western Europe from the nineteenth century to the present, with special consideration given to the shape and regulation of state-society relations in continental political systems. The central case studies include the Catholic Church, Jewish communities, and Islam in the West. Readings will reflect on processes of secularization, the separation of church and state, the emancipation of religious minorities, and the development of state-church relations with minority religious communities.
Jonathan Laurence

PO813 Islam in Europe (Spring: 3)

Instructor's permission required.

Students will explore the policies that governments in Europe adopted in response to the presence of growing numbers of Muslims in their territories over the past half-century. How do democratic governments cope with the emergence of new religions? How are new citizens incorporated? How are challenging or threatening ideologies reconciled with the rule of law? What is the relationship between policies towards groups and incorporation outcomes? The course will examine how Muslims presence affects the relationship between state and society, and explore how governments have come to treat Islam as a domestic religion and encourage Muslims to embrace national citizenship.

Jonathan Laurence

RL611 Medieval Spain, Crossroads of the World (Fall: 3)
  • Prerequisite: Contextos or permission of instructor
  • Fulfills Peninsular pre-1800 major requirement
  • Conducted in Spanish

This course is devoted to Spanish literature composed between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries. We will examine the main literary genres of the period, including lyric and epic poetry, exemplary tales, and the origins of the novel. Special attention will be given to the Poema de mio Cid, Libro de buen amor, and Celestina. Each work will be studied within its socio-historical context.
Dwayne E. Carpenter

RL689 Harmony and Dissonance: Christians, Jews, and Muslims in Medieval Spain (Spring: 3)
  • Prerequisite: Contextos or permission of instructor
  • Offered periodically
  • Conducted in Spanish
  • Fulfills pre-1800 Peninsula requirement for major

Medieval Spain is unique in its tricultural heritage, the result of long-standing convivencia on the part of Christians, Jews, and Muslims. This coexistence was often characterized by simmering suspicion, if not outright hostility; at its best, however, it was capable of producing an extraordinarily rich cultural symbiosis, as expressed in architecture, science, music, and literature. Through an examination of the art and literature of the period, we will endeavor to achieve an appreciation of the enduring contributions made, separately and collectively, by members of the three religions.
Dwayne E. Carpenter

 
SC367 Social Justice/Israel and Palestine

This seminar provides the intellectual underpinnings for an immersion trip to Israel/Palestine in January. Students in this course must commit to the trip and, upon their return, to a project that uses the knowledge they gained in Israel/Palestine. The seminar will include a review of the Israeli and Palestinian history, an analysis of the contested theological claims to the land, and an examination of conflict resolving strategies focusing on cross-border groups operating in Israel/Palestine (e.g. Prime, Combatants for Peace, Parents Circle). Finally, we will consider possible economic futures for the area under both one and two state scenarios.

Eve Spangler

SC368 Culture and Society in the Middle East (Spring: 3)

Safizedeh
SC389 Middle East on Film: Anthropological Perspectives (Fall: 3)
  • Offered periodically

This course expands the student’s understanding of the Middle East, its peoples and cultures through national (indigenous) and international (Hollywood, European, other) filmmaking traditions. Critical examination of a number fiction and non-fiction films from Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran, as well as from Europe and North America allows the students to develop a more fine-grained understanding of the Middle Easterner’s view of self and society. Topics considered include: colonialism, nationalism, occidentalism, question of women, secularism, modernity, religious resurgence, conflict, democracy, and human rights, as well as portrayal of Islam and Middle Eastern peoples and cultures in Western media and cinema.
Fereydoun Safizadeh

 

SL017 Elementary Arabic I (Fall: 4)
  • This course continues in second semester as SL018

An introduction to the study of literary and formal spoken Arabic. The course is designed to develop simultaneously the fundamental skills: reading ability, aural comprehension, oral and written self-expression. Exercises in pronunciation, grammar, and reading. Additional conversation practice and language laboratory work required. 
Atef Ghobrial

SL018 Elementary Arabic II (Spring: 4)
  • Prerequisite: SL017 or equivalent

This course is a continuation of SL017, a first-semester course. Students who have not taken SL017 should not enroll in SL018 unless they have spoken with the instructor first.
Atef Ghobrial

SL037 Introduction to Modern Hebrew I (Fall: 3)
  • Cross-listed with TH037
  • The course continues in second semester as SL038
  • No previous knowledge of Hebrew is assumed

A course for beginners in Hebrew, with attention to both modern Israeli and Biblical Hebrew. The course is intended to develop the ability to read the Hebrew Bible and other Hebrew prose and poetry and to set a foundation for both conversational and compositional skills. 
Gil Chalamish

SL038 Introduction to Modern Hebrew II (Spring: 3)
  • Prerequisite: SL037/TH037 or equivalent
  • Cross-listed with TH038

The second semester of a course for beginners in Hebrew, with attention to both modern Israeli and Biblical Hebrew. The course is intended to develop the ability to read the Hebrew Bible and other Hebrew prose and poetry and to set a foundation for both conversational and compositional skills.
Gil Chalamish

SL089/90 Intermediate Arabic I & II

Continuation of course work in reading and writing literary Arabic with coextensive conversation practice. This course continues in second semester as SL 090.
Atef Ghobrial
Wallada Sarraf

SL091 Biblical Hebrew I (Fall: 3)
  • Cross-listed with TH582
  •  No previous knowledge of Hebrew is assumed

This course is a thorough introduction to Biblical Hebrew and its principal grammatical structures in preparation for translation of prose and poetic texts. Readings in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament begin the fall semester and increase in variety throughout the year.

SL092 Biblical Hebrew II (Spring: 3)
  • Cross-listed with TH583
  •  No previous knowledge of Hebrew is assumed

This course is a thorough introduction to Biblical Hebrew and its principal grammatical structures in preparation for translation of prose and poetic texts. Readings in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament begin the fall semester and increase in variety throughout the year.
Avi Winitzer
SL107 Turkish Language Workshop (Spring: 2)
  • Offered periodically
  • Enrollment highly restricted

For registration purposes this two-credit workshop is treated as a laboratory course. Descriptive analysis, specialized independent study, exercise work, and critical readings in Turkish at various proficiency levels on a small-group basis. Consult with the instructor, in advance of registration, about qualifications. Usually this workshop requires some familiarity with descriptive linguistic techniques. 
M. J. Connolly
SL147 Language, Memory and Identity in the Middle East (Spring: 3)
  • Cross-listed with SC148
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement
  • Offered periodically

A broad-based overview of the role of language choice plays in the construction of national and cultural identity in the Middle East. We will examine the role of Modern Standard Arabic (or Fus-ha) in the elaboration of Arab Nationalism, and the role of local dialects in the conceptualization of competing national identities and territorial nationalisms. In particular, and in addition to Arab Nationalism and Zionism, we will examine the ideas of Greater Syria, the Egyptian Pharaonic idea, Lebanonism, Mesopotamianism, and the Canaanite movement in Israel.
Franck Salameh

SL148 Modern Middle Eastern and Arabic Literature (Fall: 3)
  • Cross-listed with EN348, RL292
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement
  • All works are read in English translation

This course examines the complex, multicultural nature of the Middle East by surveying twentieth century literature of Arabic-speaking lands, Israel, and Turkey. Topics include identity, culture, religion, nationalism, conflict, and minority narratives. Of Arabic works, we will read at the writings of Adonis, Darwish, and Qabbani. Of Hebrew works, we will examine the writings of Amichai and Bialik. Of the works written in French, English, Kurdish, Syriac, Turkish, and various Middle Eastern dialects, we will survey the writings of Andree Chedid, Mario Levi, Charles Corm, Louis Awad, Said Akl, and Orhan Pamuk.
Franck Salameh

SL150 States and Minorities in the Middle East (Spring: 3)
  • Cross-listed with SC150
  • Offered periodically
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

A general survey of Middle Eastern minority narratives within the context of the modern Middle East state system. The course will examine such topics as the political and cultural make-up of the Middle East, the status of minorities, minority narratives, and minority rights.
Franck Salameh

SL232 Literature of the Other Europe (in translation) (Fall: 3)
  • Cross-listed with EN229
  • Offered periodically
  • All readings in English translation

A survey of outstanding and influential works of and about the political and social upheavals of the twentieth century in Central and South Eastern Europe. A study of the often-shared themes of frontier and identity (political and religious), exile, and apocalypse in the works of selected leading writers, such as Witold Gombrowicz (Poland), Bruno Schulz (Poland), Bohumil Hrabal (Czech Republic), Milan Kundera (Czech), Dubravka Ugresic (Croatia), Mesa Selimovic (Bosnia), Muharem Bazdulj (Bosnia) and Emilian Stanev (Bulgaria). 
Cynthia Simmons

SL249 Gender & War in Eastern Europe (Spring: 3)
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement
  • Offered periodically

A study of the intersection of gender, ethnicity, and ideology in the World Wars in Eastern Europe and the recent Yugoslav wars. In World War I, women confronted their duties to the nation against the backdrop of an on-going struggle for equality. In World War II, women in communist Eastern Europe were liberated by their nations’ ideology to fight, on all fronts, against tradition. More recently in former Yugoslavia, women, particularly Bosnian Muslim women, flouted tradition in a different way--by organizing and fighting for peace.
Cynthia Simmons

SL250 Conversion, Islam and Politics in the Balkans (Spring: 3)
  • Offered periodically
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

Through a study of fiction, works of scholarship, folklore, and movies the course examines the conversion of Christians to Islam in Southeast Europe. It analyzes the most important cultural, social, and political implications of this change with a goal to identify the various factors that promote cooperation or conflict among mixed Christian-Muslim communities.
Mariela Dakova

SL251 Advanced Arabic I (Fall: 3)
  • Prerequisite: SL090 or equivalent
  •  Continued in second semester as SL252

The goal of this course is to increase the student’s knowledge of the Arabic language and culture via a communication-based approach. Therefore, the emphasis will be placed on functional usage of the language and on communication in context rather than on the conscious learning or memorization of grammatical rules. Therefore, the acquisition of all language skills, listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as grammatical structures, will be based on application rather than explanation.
Franck Salameh

SL252 Advanced Arabic II (Spring: 3)
  • Prerequisite: SL251 or equivalent

The second semester of a continuation of course work on the functional usage of the Arabic language.
Franck Salameh

SL272 War and Peace in Yugoslavia (Fall: 3)
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement
  • Offered periodically

A study of the numerous differences and affinities--ethnic, religious, historical, and linguistic––that have characterized the former Yugoslavia as an area situated at the crossroads of East and West, of their representation in various sources and media (official documents, historical accounts, folklore, literature, and film), and of the influence of these varying and conflicting representations during the wars of succession and in the aftermath.
Cynthia Simmons

SL280 Society and National Identity in the Balkans (Spring: 3)
  • Cross-listed with SC280
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement
  • Offered periodically

An overview of ethnic, cultural, and religious diversity among peoples of the Balkans (Albanians, Bosnians, Bulgarians, Croats, Greeks, Macedonians, Romanians, Serbs, Slovenes, Jews, Turks, and gypsies), this course is a study of what constitutes the various parameters of identity: linguistic typologies, religious diversity (Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Islam, and Judaism), culture, and social class. An analysis of the origins of nationalism, the emergence of nation-states, and contemporary nationalism as a source of instability and war in the Balkans will be considered.
Mariela Dakova

SL283.01 / TH383.01 / CL268.01 The Christian East: Orientale lumen (Fall: 3)

The spirituality and traditions of Eastern Christianity across places and times. The worlds of Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Eastern Catholic Churches in their doctrine and practice. Liturgy and ritual; iconography and architecture; music, chant and hymnography; languages, social order, and ethnicity; history and the present. With emphasis on Byzantine (Greek, Syrian, Slavonic and Georgian usages) and the Armenian church, but not neglecting the Nestorian churches, the Christian churches of India, or Coptic and Ethiopian Christianity.
M. J. Connolly

SL286 / EN252 Exile and Literature (Fall: 3)
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement
  • Offered periodically
  • All readings and classes are in English

Vladimir Nabokov once stated: "All writers emigrate to their art and stay therein." Is this equally true for exiles from Eastern and Central Europe, Latin and North America, Africa, the Caribbean, India? What are some of the aesthetic, geopolitical, cultural, and spiritual conditions that define a writer in exile? We shall explore these questions by closely reading and discussing works of fiction, poetry, and memoir by such remarkable literary figures as Kundera, Nabokov, Naipaul, Sebald, I. B. Singer, Soyinka, Gertrude Stein and others. We shall pay special attention to questions of ethnic, religious, and sexual displacement that engender exilic writing.
Maxim D. Shrayer

SL291 Near Eastern Civilization (Fall: 3)
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement
  • Offered periodically

This course explores the peoples, places, and events of the so-called "Cradle of Civilizations," the Near East. It surveys the cultural, political, religious, social, and intellectual evolution of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Canaan, Israel, and Arabia, from ancient times to the present. The course examines shared cultural patterns and practices, as well as distinguishing aspects of the peoples of the Near East.
Franck Salameh

SL314 Old Persian and Avestan (Fall: 3)
  • Prerequisite: SL311 General Linguistics and knowledge of an ancient inflected language

The language of the Achemenid cuneiform inscriptions and the related earlier eastern dialect of the Zoroastrian Zend-Avesta.
M. J. Connolly

SL327 / CL332 Sanskrit (Spring: 3)
  • No prerequisites, but familiarity with an inflectional language (e.g., Latin, Greek, Russian, German) is helpful
  • Offered triennially

The grammar of the classical language of India, supplemented through reading selections from the classical literature and an introductory study of comparative Indo-Iranian linguistics.
M. J. Connolly

SL328 Classical Armenian (Fall: 3)

A grammatical analysis of Armenian grabar, the classical literary language current from the fifth century AD. Sample readings from the Classical Armenian scriptural, patristic, liturgical, and historical texts.
M. J. Connolly

SL359 The Structure of Biblical Hebrew (Fall: 3)
  • Prerequisite: SL311 or equivalent
  • Permission of instructor

A linguistic analysis of selected phonological and morphological structures in Biblical Hebrew with consideration of comparative Semitic data. Students need not know Hebrew but must have training in descriptive linguistics and preferably some experience with an ancient language such as Latin or Greek. An acquaintance with the Old Testament also provides a helpful background.
M. J. Connolly

SL398 Advanced Tutorial: Arabic (Fall/Spring: 3)
  • Offered periodically
  • May be repeated for credit

A course of directed study on Arabic grammar and style, intended solely for students who have exhausted present course offerings or are doing thesis work on advanced topics. The precise subject matter is determined by arrangement and need.
Franck Salameh 

TH116 / PL116 Medieval Religions and Thought

The medieval world of philosophy and theology was a multicultural world: Arabian, Jewish and Christian thinkers from the three great religious traditions adopted, adapted and shared the philosophical riches of the classical world and the religious resources of the biblical heritage. This course introduces students to the great Arabian thinkers: Alfarabi, Avicenna, Algazel and Averroes, the respected Jewish authors: Saadiah Gaon, Moses Maimonides and Gersonides, and the famous Christian writers: Anselm, Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas and the intellectual challenges from the Greek intellectual world that they met and faced in the Middle Ages.

Stephen F. Brown

TH161 The Religious Quest: Comparative Perspectives I (Fall: 3)
  • Satisfies Theology Core requirement
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement
  • You must take both sections of the Religious Quest I and II (TH161 and TH162) to receive Core credit. There are no exceptions. Please see specific instructor’s section for additional information.

The Religious Quest explores the individual and communal search for wisdom about human nature, the world, ultimate realities and God, secrets of love and death, also enduring values to live by and paths to spiritual maturity. Although each section is different, likely themes include symbols, myths, doctrines, rituals, holy texts, saints, comparisons and contrasts among traditions, relevance of classical religious traditions to issues in today’s world, interreligious dialogue today, and religious diversity in the Boston area. Each section brings the Biblical and Christian tradition into conversation with at least one other religious tradition.
Catherine Cornille--Hinduism; Natana DeLong-Bas--Islam; Audrey Doetzel--Judaism; Ruth Langer--Judaism and Catholicism; Aloysius Lugira--African Religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism; John Makransky--Buddhism; H. John McDargh--Judaism, Buddhism; James Morris--Islam and Judaism; Daniel Scheid--Hinduism

TH162 The Religious Quest: Comparative Perspectives II (Spring: 3)
  • Prerequisite: TH161 Religious Quest I
  • Satisfies Theology Core requirement
  • Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement
  • You must take both sections of the Religious Quest I and II (TH161 and TH162) to receive Core credit. There are no exceptions. Please see specific instructor’s section for additional information.

The Religious Quest explores the individual and communal search for wisdom about human nature, the world, ultimate realities and God, secrets of love and death, also enduring values to live by and paths to spiritual maturity. Although each section is different, likely themes include: symbols, myths, doctrines, rituals; holy texts; saints; comparisons and contrasts among traditions; relevance of classical religious traditions to issues in today's world; interreligious dialogue today; religious diversity in the Boston area. Each section brings the Biblical and Christian tradition into conversation with at least one other religious tradition.
Catherine Cornille--Hinduism; Natana DeLong-Bas--Islam; Audrey Doetzel--Judaism
Ruth Langer--Judaism and Catholicism; Aloysius Lugira--African Religions, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism; John Makransky--Buddhism; H. John McDargh--Judaism, Buddhism; James Morris--Islam and Judaism; Daniel Scheid--Hinduism

TH351 Faith Elements in Conflicts: The Role of Theological Positions in the Fomenting or Resolution of Conflict (Spring: 3)

Religious differences appear often to figure in the dehumanization of enemies and rationalization of violence. This course will look at the way key concepts such as revelation, election, and universality in various religions, especially in sectarian guise, affect the origins and progress of violent conflicts, and will ask to what extent such employment of these concepts betrays the religions themselves. It will also examine how far the institutional interests of religious bodies make them vulnerable to manipulation by other parties engaged in any given conflict, and how the religious elements and loyalties relate to other interests that figure in such conflicts.
Raymond Helmick, S.J.

TH352 Israelis and Palestinians: Two Peoples, Three Faiths (Fall: 3)

The parties in the Middle Eastern Conflict came, in 1993, to a watershed agreement, which had eluded them earlier, to recognize one another’s legitimacy as peoples. The agreement has been difficult to maintain and to withdraw, and has figured massively in the turbulent events in the region since that time. This course examines how, in the whole history of the conflict, the elements of ethnicity and faith have contributed to the hatreds and resentments of these peoples, and the extent to which mutual acceptance and respect at these levels of faith and ethnicity can contribute to healing the conflict.
Raymond Helmick, S.J.

TH445 Mystical Poetry in the Islamic Humanities (for Spring 2007)

Spiritual poetry and music have long been the primary cultural vehicle for the popular communication of Qur’anic teaching throughout the Islamic world. Beginning with essential background from the Qur’an and hadith, this seminar will focus on three classics of the Islamic humanities: Attar's Language of the Birds; Rumi’s Masnavi; and Hafez's lyrical poetry. Each participant will also study another major work from the Islamic humanities (in translation) from a different Muslim culture, or cognate artistic forms (film, music, literature) from contemporary spiritual settings.
James Morris

TH531 Toward an Abrahamic Family Reunion: Issues of Religion and Identity
(Fall, Spring: 3)

Jews, Christians and Muslims are commonly referred to as members of the Abrahamic family of faith since each faith claims Abraham as its progenitor. Christianity and Judaism experienced a "parting of the ways" during the inception and development of Christianity. Islam emerged as a further prophecy and self-perceived clarification of earlier prophetic witness in the seventh century (610 CE). The purpose of this course is to explore initial family relationships, what factors contributed to the emergence of separate communities of belief and practice often in conflict with one another despite their common ancestry, and the role played by these conflicts in the shaping of critical historic periods. Today deep issues of religious identity that are either specific to this family of faiths or particularly exacerbated by the nature of the relationships between them are at the heart of current political and military tensions in the Middle East and elsewhere. The course will explore many of the social and religious dynamics influencing the resolution these situations. It is clear that Abrahamic family relations will have enormous implications for the shaping of the twenty-first century for good or for ill.
Raymond Helmick, S.J. and Rodney Petersen

TH544 Prophetic Tradition: Exploring the Hadith (Fall: 3)
  • For Advanced Undergraduates and Graduates

Using English translations, this seminar surveys the ways the corpus of Prophetic hadith has inspired every area of Islamic life, including spiritual devotions and practices; theology, cosmology and eschatology; family, social and economic life; models of proper behavior (adab); the interpretation of the Qur'an and sacred history; and later disciplines of Arabic learning. Focuses on acquiring familiarity with the structure, contents, and uses of major Sunni hadith collections (but including representative Shiite sources), as well as later influential short collections (Nawawi, Ibn `Arabi).
James Morris

TH554: Encountering the Qur’an: Contexts and Approaches (Fall:3)

Using only English-language sources, this seminar will focus on developing the skills and background needed to understand and reliably interpret the Qur’an in translation. The course will also introduce the traditional contextual materials, such as Prophetic history (Sira, hadith), recitation, "tales of the prophets," textual development, and tafsir.  But seminar sessions will focus on close reading and interpretation of selected early (Meccan) Suras.  
James Morris

TH576 Pathways to God: Islamic Theologies in Context (Spring: 3)

This seminar surveys the spectrum of political theologies and alternative models of religious and spiritual authority--and corresponding political, social and cultural expressions--that compete and interact throughout the manifold cultural contexts of Islamic history and civilization. Course based on translations of classical sources, beginning with early hadith, introduces eight key theological traditions: apophatic theology (`Ali); Shiite theological schools; Ash'ari/Mu'tazili kalam; theological assumptions of “Islamic law”; Peripatetic/scientific traditions of philosophical theology and political philosophy; the school of Ibn 'Arabi (Liu Ch'ih); and Ibn Taymiyya's traditionalism.
James Morris

TH577 Introduction to Islamic Philosophical Traditions (Fall: 3)

This foundational seminar will be devoted to the close reading of key figures and translated works illustrating the immense spectrum of Islamic philosophic (and related scientific and theological) traditions, while providing essential historical background and cultural contextualization for each of those traditions.  Topics covered will include the transmission and translation of the broader set of related Hellenistic scientific and practical disciplines (medicine, astronomy, mathematics); the selective assimilation of Aristotelian philosophic writings and approaches; Neo-Platonism and gnostic currents (especially in Shiite and Ismaili contexts); Farabi’s creative adaptation of political philosophy and its further development by Averroes, Avicenna, Tusi, and Ibn Khaldūn; Suhrawardī and the Illuminationist (ishrāqī) school; the spiritual philosophy of Ibn ‘Arabī and his interpreters; and Mulla Sadra’s creative synthesis of all of those earlier traditions.
James Morris

TH000 Sainthood and the Remembrance of God: Liturgy, Devotional Life, Music and Spiritual Practice in the Islamic Humanities (Spring: 3)

This course is intended to introduce students to the wider cultural expressions and manifold local and popular contexts of Islamic spiritual and devotional life, with a common focus on the three interconnected themes of dhikr (“Remembrance” of God), walāya (“Proximity” to God) and the awliyā’ Allāh (the “Friends of God,” including all the prophets and saints). Students will work individually on projects drawn from a wide range of recorded musical and video sources and related textual studies, while the shared background of class readings and discussion will focus on the scriptural sources and justifications for the key forms of Islamic devotional life (Qur’an, hadith); hagiographies and exemplary figures among the awliyā’ (in Sunni, Shiite, and Sufi traditions, down to the present day); and key theological/theoretical explanations and justifications of the central religious role of walāya and related devotional and liturgical practices (pilgrimage, shrines, prayer and intercession, festivals and holy days, etc.).  
James Morris 

Summer Abroad Courses

 

HS135 The Jordan Connection: The History and Culture of the Middle East from Ancient to Modern Times (Summer 2009)

Jordan (officially, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan) came into existence in the 1920s.  While it is a relatively young country whose borders were drawn by the colonial pen in the aftermath of World War I, it has historically "housed" many civilizations and political entities. Situated strategically near the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and the rivers of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), Jordan was a crossroad for trading and pilgrim caravans in pre-modern times and a safe haven for various war-torn communities in modernity (e.g., Circassians, Chechens, Bosnians, Armenians, Palestinians, and Iraqis). Jordan, then, has always been a connection point and a gateway for various cultures and communities, each of which left an indelible mark not only on local culture but also on the country’s very topography. Taking advantage of the abundance of important historical and archeological sites, this course will offer a sweeping "eyes-on" multi-century history tour of the Middle East. We will visit Mount Nebo, where the prophet Moses was first shown the "Promised Land"; Jerash, one of the most complete extant examples of a Greco-Roman city; Petra (recently officially pronounced as one of the Seven Wonders of the World), a Nabatean city carved in rose-red stone; Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John the Baptist lived and baptized; the Madaba Mosaic, a unique Byzantine mosaic map of the Holy Land; the Early Islamic Palaces of Amra and Hallabat (known as the Desert Palaces); and the Crusader castles of Karak, Shawbak, and Rabad. But between the historical sites where Roman legionaries, Nabatean traders, Byzantine ladies, Templar Knights, Umayyad Caliphs, and even Jesus himself treaded there are breathtaking deserts, forests, natural terrains, and an unusually salty lake (The Dead Sea, where it is impossible to drown).  Throughout our visit, we will stay in a series of well-equipped and comfortable eco-lodges and campsites situated in natural reserves throughout the country.
Dana Sajdi 

PO / IS Politics and Oil in the Gulf States (Summer 2009: 3)

This course addresses the problems of state formation, state-society relations, democratization, the rise of Islamism and regime stability in Kuwait and other oil-rich Arab Gulf states, such as Saudi Arabia. It also assesses the implications for foreign policy, oil export levels, and regional balancing of the GCC states. The impact of oil on domestic politics and foreign policy are examined--in particular, the ruling family’s success in the trade-off of wealth for regional power and political continuity. Despite this pact, pressures for political liberalization and civil society formation are growing, and have resulted in an independent National Assembly as well as an increased number of groups (Islamist, women’s, professional, human rights) outside of state control.   
Kathleen Bailey, David Deese

TH Exploring the Religious Worlds of Istanbul and Anatolia (Summer 2009: 3)

This summer course will provide a firsthand acquaintance with many of the central features of Islamic religious and devotional life (pilgrimage, sainthood, poetry, music, architecture, iconography and ritual), along with an initial introduction to key sites and institutions of Eastern Orthodox Christianity--with readings focusing on the fascinating mosques, shrines, Sufi tekkes, and churches of historic Istanbul/Constantinople. We will also travel to major religious shrines, monuments, places of worship and centers of pilgrimage--often shared by Muslims and Eastern Christians--in Konya, Ephesus (Mary's house), Bursa, Edirne, and Cappadocia.
James Morris