Courses

Fine Arts

ARTH 2201: Imperial Reflections: Art and Architecture of Early-Modern Islamic Dynasties

This course will examine the art and architecture of the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Empires, which controlled most of the Islamic world in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Through an examination of architecture, ceramics, textiles, metalwork and manuscripts made for the ruling elite of these dynasties we will discuss the formation of imperial styles, intersections between art and politics, and the importance of the arts in how we perceive these dynasties even today.

ARTH 2203: Great Cities of Islam: Istanbul

Capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, Istanbul/Constantinople is one of the major metropolises of the world. This course examines the urban and architectural history of the city from the medieval to the modern period. Monuments of the city such as the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapı Palace, and the Blue Mosque will be examined in their historical, architectural, urban, and social contexts. 

ARTH2213 Islamic Art and Architecture

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.

ARTH 2214  The Art of the Silk Road

Offered Periodically

The seminar is intended to introduce students to the transcontinental 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 millenia and one-quarter of the globe.
Sheila Blair

ARTH 2280  Masterpices of Islamic Art

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.
Gregory Williams

ARTH 3012: After Genghis Khan: Art and Architecture in Iran and Central Asia

This course will examine the Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century and their effects on artistic production in Iran and Central Asia up to the early sixteenth century. Students will learn about the art and architecture of the Ilkhanid and Timurid dynasties, two of the most innovative and dynamic artistic traditions of the Islamic world, and heirs to the traditions of Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire. We will explore the use of art and architecture in the promotion of ideology and empire formation, cultural exchange across the Asian continent, the interaction between nomadic and sedentary populations and the merging of Turko-Mongolian and Persian cultural identities.

ARTH 3999 Politics of Modern Middle Eastern Art

In this course, we shall survey the political underpinnings of Arab art in the twentieth century, and the socio-political conditions that shaped cultural production in the region. Whether it is under the Ba’athist regimes of Syria and Iraq or under Egypt’s Pan-Arabism championed by Gamal Abdel Nasser, painting and sculpture in addition to film and performance have been employed by various governments as a tool of soft power to propagate their policies to the public not only in their respective states but throughout the region and beyond. Despite this widespread government patronage of the arts, many artists have chosen to challenge their authorities through subversive movements and practices, which we will address at different moments in the semester. This course, through its focus on creative practices and strategic use of the arts, will attempt to shed light on an often neglected dimension of the modern history of the Arab World and other parts of the Middle East.
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi

ARTH4409 Islamic Book

This course will examine the arts of the book in the Islamic world, with particular attention to painting and calligraphy. A broad variety of manuscripts, such as Qurans, which almost never include illustrations, and books of history, science, or literature, such as the Shahnama (Book of Kings), full of exquisite paintings made with gold leaf and opaque watercolors, will be examined. We will focus on production, patronage, aesthetics and reception. Course readings and discussion will be supplemented with visits to local museums to examine manuscripts in person. Faculty: Emine Fetvaci

History

HIST 2870  Mobile Muslims in Indian Ocean Empires

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, societies around the Indian Ocean were transformed as European empires claimed larger swathes of territorial control in Asia and Africa and new technologies of travel and trade reshaped the region. This course examines how the populations that ringed the Indian Ocean adapted to that rapidly changing environment and shaped the history of their regions in ways that often resisted and frustrated colonial attempts at control. These migrants, merchants, pilgrims, and sultans pursued ambitious agendas that transcended their areas of "traditional" or "native" authority. How were their efforts aided by a common identification as Muslims and an emerging notion of a more unified "Islamic world"? How did the colonial era influence the creation of more cosmopolitan societies and how were those societies impacted by post-colonial nationalism?
Jeffrey Dyer

HIST 3120 The Arabian Nights from Bagdad

The seminar will examine the history of the famous Arabic popular oral romance, A Thousand and One Nights (Arabic, alf layla wa layla), 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, to its consumption all the way from Hawaii to Japan, to its adaptation to music, dance, film, and painting, to its production as a play here at BC this semester! 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 cultures, literary transitions to modernity, gender and sexuality, Orientalism, the colonial encounter, and the 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

HIST 4122  Odysseys in the Western and Islamc Traditions
SPRING: 3

Offered Periodically

Fulfills Non-Western Requirement for History Majors

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 from antiquity to the late eighteenth century. 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.
Sarah Ross
Dana Sajdi

HIST 4123 Gender, Sex, and Power in the Ottoman and British Empires

In this course, we will utilize the concept of gender as an analytical tool within the history of empires. We will cover gender theory, the construction of gender identity (male and female), sexuality, power, politics and culture. To understand how gender functioned within empire, we will undertake a comparative analysis of two of the greatest empires in the world – the Ottoman Empire and the British Empire. We will investigate the ways that race, religion, and class shape
women’s and gender imperial history.
Elizabeth H. Shlala

HIST 4131  Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire
SPRING: 3

Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

The Ottoman Turks founded an empire spanning the three continents of the eastern hemisphere and enduring for nearly three-quarters of a millennium. Despite nomadic origins they established a stable political structure, which grafted the high traditions of Islamic culture onto an ethnically, linguistically, and religiously diverse society. This course explores the evolution of this remarkable enterprise from its origins on the frontiers of Byzantium and Islam through its heyday under Suleyman the Magnificent to its military decline and first steps toward reform.
Benjamin Braude

HIST 4133  Middle East Nationalisms Compaired: Pan-Turkism, Pan-Arabism and Zionism
SPRING: 3

Nationalisms in the Middle East developed in a distinctive way. In contrast to Europe, religion was more important than language. In contrast to Africa, they emerged prior to the rise of anti-colonialism. Although nationalisms in the Middle East have spawned conflicts within themselves and with each other, they have displayed remarkable similarities to each other. One consistent similarity is their fraught attempts to distinguish the so-called nation from the religious traditions out of which it emerged. This course will address these questions through comparing Arab, Jewish and Turkish nationalism in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Benjamin Braude

HIST 4135  History and Historiography of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
SPRING: 3

This course introduces students to the history of the Arab-Israeli conduct 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 contention 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.
Dana Sajdi

HIST 4140  Middle East in the Tewentieth Century

Satisfies Cultural Diversity Core requirement

Through the last eighty years the Middle East has been the site of many wars and conflicts. More recently it has become the most important source of the world's energy. This combination of strife and economic power has made it a vital and sensitive areas for the entire globe.
Benjamin Braude

HIST 4497  Terror and the American Century
SPRING: 3

The aim of this course is to show how terror and violence have affected the United States from the late 19th century up to 9/11 and through the current U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It aims to show that while differing in scope and human loss, the latter events, including the so-called Global War on Terror, have certain antecedents in the U.S. experience. The course will concentrate on the theme of terror, both domestic and foreign, and examine the government response to terror and subversive groups aiming to overthrow the government or inflict harm upon its citizens.
Charles Gallagher, S.J.

HIST 7315  The Islamic Mediterranean

This colloquium is an introduction to pre-modern Islamic history for advanced students with a focus on the areas surrounding the Mediterranean. The first month of the course will be devoted to reading and discussing Marshall Hodgson's classic The Venture of Islam, 3 vols. (Chicago, 1974), which covers the entirety of the Islamic world. The readings for the rest of course will be tailored according to the specific interests of the students with special attention to historiographical, methodological, and theoretical issues.
Dana Sajdi

International Studies

INTL 2425 Democratization in the Middle East 

This course is an introduction to democratization in the Middle East, using social science literatures on regime type (e.g. democratic, authoritarian, totalitarian, hybrid) to explore how history, geopolitics, and leadership shape comparative experiences of democratization in the region.  The course considers democratization patterns shaped by disputes over tradeoffs between security versus pluralism and equality before the state, tensions between economic equity and growth, and competition between religious versus secular forms of nationalism.  Through case studies (e.g. Egypt, Turkey, Iran, Syria, Lebanon) and guest-lecture engagement with regional and international scholar-practitioners, the course situates the region within current debates about democracy worldwide.
Elizabeth Prodromou

INTL 3340 Environmental Politics of the Middle East

Joseph Getzoff

INTL 4941 International Studies Senior Seminar "Social Movements and Contentious Politics in the Middle East”

When we talk about contentious politics, we talk about momentous social phenomena such as social movements, revolutions, civil war, democratization, and nationalism. In all of these instances, people come together to collectively participate in a struggle to make claims on government, often using radical and extra-institutional means in the process. This course first introduces the major theories of social movements that explain the origins, dynamics, and consequences of contentious politics. We will then concentrate on several historic and recent episodes of contentious politics in the Middle East including the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the First and Second Palestinian Intifadas, and the Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. We examine how social movement theory helps us to understand these major episodes of mass mobilization in the Middle East, as well as how these episodes prompt us to change our way of thinking about social movements and contentious politics more generally. As we delve into the cases over the course of the semester, we will investigate a wide range of social movement attributes such as movement emergence, member recruitment, leadership, organization, tactics (both violent and nonviolent), targets, and goals while also considering the factors contributing to movement success or failure.
M. Ali Kadivar

Islamic Civilization and Societies

ICSP 2250 Conversion, Islam, and Politics in the Balkans

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.

ICSP 2066 Edifying Books on the Arab-Israeli Conflict

With the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of the antagonisms riving and riveting Arab and Jew, this course seeks to discuss edifying books on the Arab-Israeli conflict, analyzing their themes, probing their authors voices, examining temperaments, opinions, political engagements, and attitudes of self and other, and each of the actors/authors' narratives. The course will embark with a critical historical analysis of what is colloquially known as the Arab-Israeli conflict, bringing special attention to splintering empires Post-WWI (both in the Middle East and Europe,) delving into the complex unresolved legacies of multiple identities and the political and cultural conflicts that accompanied the emergence of a new Middle Eastern state system. The course will then proceed to the analysis of various narrative voices of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, interrogating key concepts such as identity, memory, state, homeland, nationalism, localism, diaspora, Zionism, Arabism, refugees, and citizenship from different Arab and Israeli purviews four Arab and four Israeli voices in total, all eight of which by definition advancing heated, temperamental, personal, seldom unbiased voices. The course will conclude with students selecting one additional book, as part of their Final Paper topic and class presentation, which they will read independently summarizing their books narrative and its authors voice and positionality (that is to say, how the authors identity and world of references inform his/her biases, beliefs, and attitudes relative to the Arab-Israeli conflict.)

ICSP 2382 Linguistic Cultures of the Near East
FALL: 2

A typological review of the languages and language families of the Near or Middle East, both ancient and modern. Their scripts and alphabets, their sound systems and grammatical features, the sense of literary expression and the role of language in ethnic identity in the Near East.

ICSP 2638 Islamic Political Philosophy

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.

ICSP 3200  Engaging Interreligious Leadership

This course engages the quest for meaning, purpose, and practical skills in interreligious engagement, building upon material learned in one of the Core courses that brings Christianity into dialogue with another tradition toward the goal of developing models of ethical interaction between religious traditions, people and experiences. Rooted in recognition that engaging religious diversity is a necessary component of training for global citizenship in the contemporary world, the course offers multiple perspectives on interreligious encounters in a variety of fields that can serve as opportunities for collective engagement toward common goals and purposes, as well as a source of conflict and violence when managed poorly, particularly in the context of other political and socio-economic concerns. The course provides theoretical background in framing interreligious engagement within the field of interreligious studies, followed by identification of best practices and community-based initiatives rooted in case studies recorded in print literature, the media, and films, and concludes with students formulating their own case studies. Topics addressed include: strategies for crafting and facilitating interreligious meeting spaces, including in education, medicine, the business world, and the public square; the role of religious identities, gender dynamics, race and racism in interreligious environments; interreligious encounters in culture and the fine arts; developments in interreligious dialogue; interreligious cooperation in addressing environmental and social justice concerns; and engagement of religions as tools for conflict resolution. 
Natana Delong-Bas

ICSP 3315 Islam and Modernity: The Turkish Experience

Located on the Western edge of the Islamic civilization, the Ottoman empire and later Republican Turkey faced modernity early on. New ideas such as constitutionalism, equal citizenship for all (including women and non-Muslims), nationalism, secularism, and democracy had both deep impacts and complex reactions. This course will present an overview of this history beginning with the Tanzimat (Reform) era of the 19th century, to the secularist foundations of the Turkish Republic, to the post-secular New Turkey of today. Focus will be on Islamic ideas, which, throughout this turbulent history, took various forms: progressive or reactionary, moderate or militant, liberal or authoritarian.

ICSP 4334 Sogdian and the Silk Road: Linguistic Perspectives
Spring: 3

Cross listed with LING4334 & NELC3351

The language and culture of Sogdian, the East Iranian language which served for almost a millennium as the lingua franca of the Silk Road and served as the medium for the transmission of religious cultures, including Christianity, between the Near East and China.
Barakatullo Ashurov

ICSP 4335 Politics, Culture, Society
Fall & Summer: 3

The course explores the diversity and continuity of contemporary Tajik politics, culture and society, including historical roots. After exploring contemporary political context and institutions, the course will approach Tajik culture, social structures and everyday life from the historical caravan trade and pastoralism to compemporary collective farm and urbanism.
Barakatullo Ashurov

ICSP 4336 Introduction to Zoroastrianism
Spring: 3

The course is an introduction to the history of Zoroastrianism--one of the most significant religious traditions in Antiquity, from its origins to its decline as the principle religion in Sasanian Iran following the Arab conquest. The course covers the central concepts of Zoroastrianism and its place in the context of other ancient Iranian religions.

ICSP 4942 ICS Senior Seminar Continuation

This is a 1-credit optional continuation of fall's "ICS Senior Seminar" (ICSP4941).

ICSP 4952 ICS Senior Thesis

This course is an ensemble dedicated to learning how to play music from cultures of the Middle East: the Arab World, Iran, Turkey, as well as parts of Central Asia. Repertoire covered includes rural and urban repertoires, popular music forms as well as art music genres. Permission of instructor required for enrollment.

ICSP 7010  Islam and History in the Middle East

An in-depth study of the role of Islam in Middle Eastern history from the pre-Islamic era through the 18th century with emphasis on engagement with primary documents. We will introduce methods of historiography and the growth of the Arabic language historical tradition and will examine the role of Islamic thought and practice, Sunni, Shii, and Sufi alike, in the development of society and civilization across time and space. 
Natana Delong-Bas   

Music

MUSA 2308  Music in the Medieval Islamic World

This course examines the nature of music in the medieval Islamic world and its relationships with cultural factors that shaped  the history of the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish speaking worlds after the rise of Islam. The course will cover a period of history from the rise of the Ummayad Caliphate (c. 660), through the Perso-Islamic  empires of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. Some aspects of music under the Safavid and Moghul Empires during the sixteenth century will also be addressed. Topics covered in this course include: the place of music in the context of Islamic philosophy, the function of music within the Islamic Caliphate, the use of music in Islamic mysticism and musical changes that occurred in response to the changing nature of Islamic Empire.
Ann Lucas

MUSA 2309  Music and Culture in the Middle East

This course explores the relationship between different music traditions of the Middle East and their respective cultural contexts. It addresses issues of music's structure and content vis-a-vis its role in social, political and religious situations in the region; the ways that these forces influence musical aesthetics, while also addressing the role of music in the Middle East historically. The cultural areas covered in this class include the Arab World, Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan.
Ann Lucas

MUSP 1660  Middle Eastern Ensemble

This course is an ensemble dedicated to learning how to play music from cultures of the Middle East: the Arab World, Iran, Turkey, as well as parts of Central Asia. Repertoire covered includes rural and urban repertoires, popular music forms as well as art music genres. Permission of instructor required for enrollment.
Ann Lucas

Philosophy

PHIL 4407  Medieval Philosophy
SPRING: 3

Far from being repetitive, the Middle Ages were a period during which multiple solutions tried to make sense of the world by combining philosophic and scientific knowledge with religious views. The aim of the course is to provide an accurate image of this diversity of thoughts. We will study a wide range of Christian authors, from St. Augustine to Ockham, as well as Islamic and Jewish thinkers. The course will highlight the essential concepts that were formed in the Middle Ages and have been transmitted to modern philosophy in metaphysics and ontology, theory of knowledge and consciousness, ethics, etc.
Jean-Luc Solere

Political Science

POLI 2363  Muslims in U.S. Society and Politics
SPRING: 3

An examination of the demographic, social, cultural, religious, and political forces that are shaping the emergent American Muslim community. Inter-generational family dynamics, Muslim schools, mosque governance, civil religion in America, advocacy group politics, and voting patters will be examined. So will ethnic, linguistic, national-origin, and sectarian differences among immigrant-origin Muslims, particularly their political implications. African-American Muslims will also be considered, especially their relations with immigrant-origin Muslims. Attention will be paid both the impact of Muslims on American society and to the impact of American institutions and policies, especially post-9/11 initiatives such as the Patriot Act, on Muslims
Peter Skerry

POLI 2414  Politics & 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 and 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, the rise of nationalism, and religious radicalism, terrorism, and war. Reform strategies and models will be discussed.
Kathleen Bailey

POLI 2426  Modern Turkish Politics

The aim of this course is to introduce the major historical developments, main actors and institutional framework of modern Turkey. It will enable students to understand the complexities of and developments in political life, institutions and processes; as well as socio-economic factors that influence the political system in Turkey. After providing a historical overview, starting from the westernization efforts during the late Ottoman Empire to the founding of modern republic, contemporary issues that have considerable impact on Turkish political life in the last decades will be discussed.
Cigdem Hajipouan Benam

POLI 2502  U.S.-Iran Relations Since World War II
SPRING: 3

This course examines the domestic, ideological, and strategic dimensions of the troubled relationships between the United States and Iran since the Second World War. After a brief overview of the relationships in the pre-war period, it will focus on the war-time occupation of Iran by the Allied powers and the subsequent onset of the Cold War; Iran's oil nationalization crisis and the 1953 CIA-sponsored coup; U.S.'s unstinting support for the Pahlavi monarch after the coup until his fall in 1979; and the state of mutual distrust, tension, and hostility between the two countries since the Islamic Revolution.
Ali Banuazizi

POLI 2615 Islam and Liberal Democracy

We will take advantage of current geopolitical controversies in order to unearth the theoretical core of the debate between Islam and the West. Materials related to the Islamic heritage will be placed next to arguments made on behalf of the West in relation to certain key issues, such as rights versus duties; religion and freedom; and democracy and progress. Modern, pre-modern, sacred, and secular texts will be studied. How can the secular world defend itself against a critique that begins from a position of faith and emphasizes virtue, God, and justice?

POLI 2638  Islamic Political Philosophy
SPRING: 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.
David Di Pasquale

POLI 3444  Intellectuals and Politics in the Middle East
SPRING: 3

This course examines the role of intellectuals, both religious and secular, in several Middle Eastern countries in analyzing the key problems of their societies, articulating visions for change, supporting or challenging the political status quo, and at times acting directly as agents of social change. The main themes to be explored in the words of a number of prominent Middle Eastern intellectuals include: the conflict between tradition and modernity; the encounter with the West and the quest for authenticity; secularism, human rights, minority rights, and democracy; and reformist versus radical strategies for political, social, and cultural change.
Ali Banuazizi

POLI 3527 Terrorism, Insurgency, and Political Violence

Terrorism, insurgency, and political violence are unfortunately all around us. Whether its the targeting of elected officials in the U.S. or the killing of civilians in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, or mass bombings amidst civil wars in Syria, Somalia, and Yemen, violence by and against non-state actors is the most common form of conflict in the 21st century. Are terrorism and political violence inventions from the modern era, or do they have a deeper past? What drives an individual to join an armed group? Why do some groups choose to employ violence, while others do not? Are terrorism and insurgency effective political tactics? Just how significant is the threat of terrorism to you and to others around the world? This course will address these and other questions, while introducing students to relevant analytical frameworks, theories, and cases concerning terrorism, insurgency, and related forms of political violence.

In addition to its topical focus, this course could rightly be called a methods course. Students in the class will learn how to improve their analytical thinking, conduct high quality research, and present an effective argument, both orally and in writing. They will learn the potential and pitfalls of theories of political violence through constant analysis and engagement with the history of terrorism and insurgency. By the conclusion of the course, students will emerge not only with a far richer understanding of these issues, but also as more sophisticated consumers, analysts, and producers of knowledge.

POLI 7700  Muslims and American Institutions
SPRING: 3

Will Muslims integrate successfully into the American regime? How do we define success? What does such integration—or lack thereof—tell us about contemporary American political institutions? What challenges does Islam pose for our understanding of the place of religion in America, or in liberal democracies generally? Such questions will be addressed by examining the institutions Muslims in America are building for themselves—for instance, mosques, schools, political advocacy groups. To what extent are these shaped by values and ideas—religious or political? To what extent by overseas actors? To what extent by American social and cultural forces?
Peter Skerry

Slavic & Eastern Languages and Literatures

NELC 1121 Elementary Arabic I

An introduction to the study of literary and formal spoken Arabic. The course is designed to develop simultaneously the fundamental skills of reading ability, aural comprehension, and oral and written self-expression. Includes exercises in pronunciation, grammar, and reading. Additional conversation practice and language laboratory work required. This course continues in the second semester as NELC1122.

NELC 1123 Elementary Arabic Practicum

Required exercises and conversational practice to supplement Elementary Arabic I/II.

NELC 1211 Introduction to Modern Hebrew I

The course continues in the second semester as NELC1212. A course for beginners in Hebrew with attention to modern Israeli. The course is intended to develop the ability to read a variety of Hebrew texts and other Hebrew prose and poetry and to set a foundation for both conversational and compositional skills. As part of the learning, students will be exposed to modern Israeli culture. No previous knowledge of Hebrew is assumed.

NELC 1212 Continuing Modern Hebrew II

The second semester of a course for beginners in Hebrew, with attention to modern Israeli. The course is intended to develop the ability to read Hebrew texts and other Hebrew prose and poetry and to set a foundation for both conversational and compositional skills. As part of their learning, students will be exposed to modern Israeli culture.

NELC 2063  Near Eeastern Civilizations

This course investigates the rise and development of civilization in the Middle East, from the beginning of settled life (ca. 10th millennium BC), and into the establishment of modern state-system in the early 20th century. The course themes examine the political, social, economic, religious, and intellectual underpinnings of the rise, growth, faltering, and downfall of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, Canaan, Egypt, Israel, and Carthage, evaluate their contributions to the rise of classical civilization (Greece and Rome,) and their influence on Western Civilization, monotheistic traditions, and the modern Middle Eastern state-system.

NELC 2066 Edifying Books on the Arab-Israeli Conflict

With the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of the antagonisms riving and riveting Arab and Jew, this course seeks to discuss edifying books on the Arab-Israeli conflict, analyzing their themes, probing their authors voices, examining temperaments, opinions, political engagements, and attitudes of self and other, and each of the actors/authors' narratives. The course will embark with a critical historical analysis of what is colloquially known as the Arab-Israeli conflict, bringing special attention to splintering empires Post-WWI (both in the Middle East and Europe,) delving into the complex unresolved legacies of multiple identities and the political and cultural conflicts that accompanied the emergence of a new Middle Eastern state system. The course will then proceed to the analysis of various narrative voices of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, interrogating key concepts such as identity, memory, state, homeland, nationalism, localism, diaspora, Zionism, Arabism, refugees, and citizenship from different Arab and Israeli purviews four Arab and four Israeli voices in total, all eight of which by definition advancing heated, temperamental, personal, seldom unbiased voices. The course will conclude with students selecting one additional book, as part of their Final Paper topic and class presentation, which they will read independently summarizing their books narrative and its authors voice and positionality (that is to say, how the authors identity and world of references inform his/her biases, beliefs, and attitudes relative to the Arab-Israeli conflict.)

NELC 2121  Intermediate Arabic I

Conducted mostly in Arabic. Continuation of coursework in reading and writing literary Arabic. This course continues in the second semester as NELC2122.

NELC 2211 Continuing Modern Hebrew I

Continued work in the study of modern Israeli Hebrew and the reading and comprehension of texts of moderate difficulty. The course continues in second semester as NELC2212.

NELC 3162  Business Arabic

This course is intended for students who have had at least five semesters (approximately 200 hours) of Arabic study or equivalent.  Students are introduced to the specialized structure and vocabulary of newspaper & Business Arabic, beginning with the analysis of headlines and telegraphic language and messaging, and continuing into video, radio, film, and web- based content. They will examine extensive and varied as well as authentic and recent media Arabic materials taken from different Arabic newspapers and media sources such as Al-Hayat الحياة, Al- Ahram الاهرام, BBC and Al-Gazeera الجزيرة with a view to introducing them to a variety of stylistic features and terminologies specific to each of Arabic business “conventional” and “specialized” writing.

The course will be divided into a number of modules organized around such topical issues such as “the economy الاقتصاد,” “diplomacy الدبلوماسية,” “natural disasters الكوارث الطبيعية,” “elections الانتخابات,” “the war on terrorism الحرب ضد الإرهاب,” “law and order النظام والقانون ,” and “violence and anarchy العنف والفوضى.” The impact of these issues on business and the economy will be discussed and examined.  Although emphasis will be placed on reading comprehension, translation and writing, language in context and listening will be emphasized as they are key to helping learners later navigate the universe of authentic Arabic talk shows and broadcast news revolving around these issues.

NELC 4121  Advanced Arabic I
FALL: 3

Prerequisite: SL 090 Intermediate Arabic II or equivalent

Satisfies Foreign Language Proficiency Core Requirement
Conducted in Arabic.

Advanced-level work toward a thorough proficiency in all aspects of modern standard Arabic, with an emphasis on composition, syntax, style, and careful translation of advanced texts.
Atef Ghobrial

NELC 4122  Advanced Arabic II
SPRING: 3

This course is for students who have had prior formal exposure to modern standard Arabic. It is a continuation of Advanced Arabic ( SL25101). It continues the process of presenting grammatical structures, reinforces techniques for vocabulary building and extends reading skills, speaking and writing at the paragraph level and beyond. The course will emphasize intensive conversational practice and communication in context. Additional material prepared by the instructor will serve to supplement the textbook in such matters as conversations, grammar, vocabulary and listening skills/drills. Instruction will adopt a communication-based approach: emphasis is placed on the functional use of the language and on communication in context rather than on the conscious learning of grammatical rules. New vocabulary will be used and applied in class in various new authentic contexts such as by asking questions and engaging in various speech activities that necessitate the use of new vocabulary and structures. Some grammatical structures for further elucidation and/ or emphasis will be selected, whenever necessary or needed. However, the course emphasizes the acquisition of grammatical structures by application rather than explanation.
Atef Ghobrial

NELC 4130 Advanced Arabic Reading Seminar

Close analytic reading of original texts in Arabic, varying from Pre-Islamic poetry up through contemporary literature. It can also serve as a directed studies course for students who are doing thesis work on advanced topics. Conducted principally in Modern Standard Arabic.

NELC 4190 Advanced Tutorial: Arabic

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.

SLAV 2065  Society and National Identity in the Balkans

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 ). It 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

SLAV 2066  Conversion, Islam, & Politics in the Balkans

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 the goal of identifying the various factors that promote cooperation or conflict among mixed Christian-Muslim communities.
Mariela Dakova

SLAV 2067  Gender and War in Eastern Europe
SPRING: 3

A study of the intersection of gender, ethnicity, and ideology in the Russian Revolution, the World Wars in Eastern Europe, and the recent Yugoslav wars. In World War I women confronted their duties to 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, against tradition, on all fronts. More recently in former Yugoslavia, women, particularly Bosnian Muslim women, flouted tradition in a different way—by organizing and fighting for peace.
Cynthia Simmons

SLAV 2069  Literature of the Other Europe in Translation
FALL: 3

Cultural Diversity Core Credit

A survey of outstanding and influential works of and about the political and social upheavals of the 20^th century in Eastern/Central and Southeastern Europe. These works often share the themes of frontier, identity, exile, and apocalypse, issuing directly from the experience of the borderlands of four empires—Russian, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and at the other end of the 20^th century, Soviet—and four religions—Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Yet, the authors' concerns often also resonate with what we can identify as "universal" issues of the twentieth century.
Cynthia Simmons

SLAV 2071  War and Peace in Yugoslavia
FALL/SPRING: 3

A study of the numerous differences—ethnic, religious, linguistic, and historical—that, along with economic disparities, characterized Yugoslavia as a country situated “at the crossroads” of East and West, and of their role (real and “constructed”) in the dissolution of the nation and subsequent war. A consideration also of the Yugoslav conflicts, and their resolutions, as successful (or unsuccessful) models for the response of the “international community” to strife among peoples of unstable nations and cultures.
Cynthia Simmons

Sociology

SOCY 1150  States and Minorities in the Middle East
SPRING: 3

Cross Listed with SL150 and PS153

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 Arabid (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.
Fanck Salameh

SOCY 3367  Human Rights and Social Justice in Israel and Palestine
FALL: 3

A study/immersion trip over winter break is required of participants.

This seminar, using a hu5351man rights framework, is designed to prepare students to better understand the Israeli/Palestinian conflict by comparing historical narratives, evaluating the most discussed political solutions (the one vs. two state debate), assessing the possibilities of an "economic peace" absent a political solution, and evaluating the role of religious ethics in conflict resolution.
Eve Spangler

Theology

THEO 143101 Islam and Christianity in Dialogue

This course engages the quest for truth and meaning in the faith traditions and practices of Islam and Christianity through the lens of comparative theology. We will use textual, historical, social, cultural, and gender analyses to examine and reflect on understandings of God, scripture, worship, sacred rites and rituals, religious law, and membership in the faith community, in addition to a comparative approach to Biblical and Quranic narratives, characters, and concepts of prophethood and saints, with special emphasis given to Jesus, Muhammad, and the Virgin Mary. Satisfies Core requirement for: Theology (Sacred Texts and Traditions)

THEO 3116  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

THEO 3200  Engaging Interreligious Leadership

This course engages the quest for meaning, purpose, and practical skills in interreligious engagement, building upon material learned in one of the Core courses that brings Christianity into dialogue with another tradition toward the goal of developing models of ethical interaction between religious traditions, people and experiences. Rooted in recognition that engaging religious diversity is a necessary component of training for global citizenship in the contemporary world, the course offers multiple perspectives on interreligious encounters in a variety of fields that can serve as opportunities for collective engagement toward common goals and purposes, as well as a source of conflict and violence when managed poorly, particularly in the context of other political and socio-economic concerns. The course provides theoretical background in framing interreligious engagement within the field of interreligious studies, followed by identification of best practices and community-based initiatives rooted in case studies recorded in print literature, the media, and films, and concludes with students formulating their own case studies. Topics addressed include: strategies for crafting and facilitating interreligious meeting spaces, including in education, medicine, the business world, and the public square; the role of religious identities, gender dynamics, race and racism in interreligious environments; interreligious encounters in culture and the fine arts; developments in interreligious dialogue; interreligious cooperation in addressing environmental and social justice concerns; and engagement of religions as tools for conflict resolution. 
Natana Delong-Bas

THEO 5016 Christians Reading the Qurʾān

This course examines various trends and methodological approaches by which Christians have interpreted the Qurʾān. The semester begins by surveying premodern trends, including Qurʾān translations, privileging primary sources when possible. Most of the course concentrates on 20 th and 21 st century engagement with Islams sacred text, including debates about orientalism and postcolonial theory. Theological questions include general discussions of whether and how Christians may consider the Qurʾān revealed and/or inspired along with focused discussions of particular passages of pertinence to Christian comparative theology. Knowledge of Arabic beneficial but not necessary; all required readings exist in English translation. Cross-listed in ICSP.

THEO 7855 Modern/Contemporary Islam in Context

A graduate-level in-depth overview of historically grounded modern and contemporary Islamic theological and legal thinking in both majority and minority contexts throughout the Middle East, Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States, with attention to: debates about the impact of colonialism, the Western Enlightenment, and the politics of resistance; political ideologies including secularism, nationalism, socialism/Marxism, democracy, authoritarianism, various forms of political Islam and the "Islamic" state, theologies of liberation, Salafism, and violence and extremism; Islamic law and justice; women, gender and sexuality; religious pluralism; science and medicine; and ethics and the environment.

Summer Abroad Courses

Kuwait: Politics & Oil in the Gulf
SUMMER: 3

POLI2475 / ICSP2475 / INTL2475

The Kuwait Program exposes students to a unique and unfamiliar environment, where they will explore a wide range of issues relevant to the GCC countries of Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Seminar style classes are enhanced and complemented by local guest speakers and a wide variety of enticing site tours, including the tallest building in the world and the largest mosque ever built. Students interact with local citizens every day in Kuwaiti homes, restaurants, diwaniyyas, at desert encampments and at beach chalets.  
Kathleen Bailey

More information, including how to apply.

Economic Policy Analysis in Turblent Times: Europe and Turkey
SUMMER: 4

ECON3368 / INTL3368

This summer program takes an interdisciplinary approach to issues of economic policymaking as it is faced in two quite different economies: Turkey and Germany. Presentations by guest speakers from research institutes, central banks, and government help students understand the challenges of policymaking, incorporating political, sociological and cultural constraints, and acquire a solid understanding of the Eurozone, European Union, and newly developed economies' policy prescriptions. Students will develop a real-world perspective on careers in economics, as well as ample opportunities for cultural enrichment, sightseeing, and living in these two vibrant cultures. This unique experience will provide ample material to support the theory and material covered in class at Boston College. Access to prominent guest speakers, company and site visits, and numerous cultural activities will constitute an exclusive, rich, educational, fun and memorable four-week program.
Can Erbil, Christopher Baum

More information about this program, including how to apply. 

Turkey at the Crossroads: Politics, Religion and the State
SUMMER: 3

THEO1224 / ICSP1224 / INTL1224

Turkey is a nation at the crossroads. Its geographic location astride Europe and Asia makes it a bridge between the civilizations of “the West” and the broader Middle East, and an historical site of contest and exchange between Islam and Christianity. It is a key player in the geopolitics of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as it vies with Iran, Egypt and the Gulf States for leadership of the region’s many Islamic states. But Turkey is also at a crossroads in its own cultural and political history, as the strict secularism embraced by its elites for many generations gives way to a new openness to Islam in public life that has worried many religious minorities and nonreligious Turks.

Join us in summer 2015 for an in-depth examination of religion and public life in this fascinating country. Based in Istanbul, one the world's great cities, we will also travel to the nation's capital in Ankara and visit the shrine and burial place of the great 13th-century Sufi poet Rumi (known in Turkey as Mevlâna) in Konya. Course readings and discussion will complement guest lectures and meetings with politicians, civic and religious leaders, activists and academics.
Erik Owens

More information about the Turkey program, including how to apply.