Fall 2020

Note: Course lists are provided as a courtesy to students and are not exhaustive. Please contact the relevant department for any questions about registration.  

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Anthropology

ANTHRO R5B 001 - LEC 001: Reading and Composition in Anthropology - Religious Tradition in the Middle East: Ethics, Poetics, Politics

Aaron Frederick Eldridge |  M, W, F | 1:00 pm - 1:59 pm | Barrows 80 | Class #:20979 | Units:4

Reading and composition courses based on the anthropological literature. These courses provide an introduction to issues distinctive of anthropological texts and introduce students to distinctive forms of anthropological writing, such as ethnography and anthropological prehistory. Readings will be chosen from a variety of texts by authors whose works span the discipline, from bioanthropology to archaeology and sociocultural anthropology. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement. 

 

 

Arabic

ARABIC 1A 001 - REC 001: Elementary Arabic

Haitham S. Mohamed | M, TU, W, TH, F | 8:00 am - 8:59 am | Dwinelle B3 | Class #:21093 | Units:5

This course emphasizes the functional usage of Arabic in the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Authentic audio, video, and reading materials are presented from the beginning, and students are encouraged to be creative with the language in and out of class.

 

ARABIC 1A 002 - REC 002: Elementary Arabic

M, TU, W, TH, F | 9:00 am - 9:59 am | Dwinelle 33 | Class #:21094| Units:5

This course emphasizes the functional usage of Arabic in the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Authentic audio, video, and reading materials are presented from the beginning, and students are encouraged to be creative with the language in and out of class.

 

ARABIC 1A 003 - REC 003: Elementary Arabic

M, TU, W, TH, F | 10:00 am - 10:59 am | Dwinelle 33 | Class #:21095| Units:5

This course emphasizes the functional usage of Arabic in the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Authentic audio, video, and reading materials are presented from the beginning, and students are encouraged to be creative with the language in and out of class.

 

ARABIC 1A 004 - REC 004: Elementary Arabic

M, TU, W, TH, F | 11:00 am - 11:59 am | Dwinelle 33 | Class #:21096| Units:5

This course emphasizes the functional usage of Arabic in the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Authentic audio, video, and reading materials are presented from the beginning, and students are encouraged to be creative with the language in and out of class.

 

ARABIC 1A 005 - REC 005: Elementary Arabic

M, TU, W, TH, F | 1:00 pm - 1:59 pm | Dwinelle 33 | Class #:21087| Units:5

This course emphasizes the functional usage of Arabic in the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Authentic audio, video, and reading materials are presented from the beginning, and students are encouraged to be creative with the language in and out of class.

 

ARABIC 1A 006 - REC 006: Elementary Arabic

M, TU, W, TH, F | 2:00 pm - 2:59 pm | Dwinelle B37 | Class #:21089| Units:5

This course emphasizes the functional usage of Arabic in the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Authentic audio, video, and reading materials are presented from the beginning, and students are encouraged to be creative with the language in and out of class.

 

ARABIC 1A 007 - REC 007: Elementary Arabic

M, TU, W, TH, F | 3:00 pm - 3:59 pm | Dwinelle B37 | Class #:33012| Units:5

This course emphasizes the functional usage of Arabic in the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Authentic audio, video, and reading materials are presented from the beginning, and students are encouraged to be creative with the language in and out of class.

 

ARABIC 20A 001 - REC 001: Intermediate Arabic 

Haitham S. Mohamed | M, TU, W, TH, F | 9:00 am - 9:59 am | Dwinelle B3 | Class #: 21090 | Units:5

This course is proficiency oriented. Authentic reading in modern standard and classical Arabic and the understanding and application of grammatical and stylistic rules are emphasized. Students deliver oral presentations and write academic papers in Arabic.

 

ARABIC 20A 002 - REC 002: Intermediate Arabic 

M, TU, W, TH, F | 11:00 am - 11:59 am | Barrows 118 | Class #: 21091 | Units:5

This course is proficiency oriented. Authentic reading in modern standard and classical Arabic and the understanding and application of grammatical and stylistic rules are emphasized. Students deliver oral presentations and write academic papers in Arabic.

 

ARABIC 20A 003 - REC 003: Intermediate Arabic 

Elsa Elmahdy | M, TU, W, TH, F | 2:00 pm - 2:59 pm | Wheeler 100 | Class #: 21092 | Units:5 

This course is proficiency oriented. Authentic reading in modern standard and classical Arabic and the understanding and application of grammatical and stylistic rules are emphasized. Students deliver oral presentations and write academic papers in Arabic.

 

ARABIC 100A 001 - LEC 001: Advanced Arabic

Haitham S. Mohamed | M,W,F | 11:00 am - 11:59 pm |  Dwinelle B3 |Class #:21100 | Units:3

Intensive reading and analysis of texts of different genres. Guest lectures, films, documentaries, oral presentations, research papers. Formal and informal styles of writing and correspondence. Extensive vocabulary building.

 

ARABIC 100A 002 - LEC 002: Advanced Arabic

Elsa Elmahdy | M,W,F | 1:00 am - 1:59 pm | Barrows 252 | Class #:25626 | Units:3

Intensive reading and analysis of texts of different genres. Guest lectures, films, documentaries, oral presentations, research papers. Formal and informal styles of writing and correspondence. Extensive vocabulary building.

 

ARABIC 104B 001 - LEC 001: Classical Arabic Prose

Margaret Larkin | M,W | 12:00 pm - 1:29 pm | Barrows 252 | Class #:24984 | Units:3

This course is designed for students who wish to concentrate on Arabic of the classical periods of Arab and Islamic civilization. Reading and analysis of literary texts of various genres, including essays, biography, and travel literature.

 

ARABIC 220 001 - SEM 001: Seminar in Classical Arabic Literature 

Margaret Larkin | Class #:33184 | Units:3

A close reading and careful literary analysis of significant authors and specific topics in Classical Arabic prose or poetry or both.

 

ARABIC 298 001 - SEM 001: Politics and Practice of Translation Between Arabic and English

Ahmad Diab | M | 3:00 pm - 5:59 pm | Barrows 275 | Class #:26178 | Units:1-4

Special topics in Arabic. Topics vary and are announced at the beginning of each semester.

 

 

Armenian 

ARMENI 1A 001 - SES 001: Introductory Armenian 

Myrna A Douzjian | TU, TH | 5:00 pm - 6:29 pm | Dwinelle 263 | Units:3

An introduction to Armenian language and culture, aiming to give students basic competence in all four skills and an introduction to traditional and contemporary Armenian culture. 

 

ARMENI 101A 001 - LEC 001: Continuing Armenian 

Myrna A Douzjian | TU, TH | 3:30 pm - 4:59 pm | Dwinelle 263 | Units:3

The purpose of this course is to further develop students' Armenian proficiency in all four language skills, using discussion, oral presentations, written assignments, and a variety of readings (literature, non-fiction, folklore, newspaper articles, etc.) chosen partly for their cultural significance and partly based on student needs and interests. Emphasis on particular skills (e.g. reading) depending on student needs and interests. 

 

 

Comparative Literature 

COMLIT R1B 006 - LEC 006: English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature - East/West in Literature and Film

Emily Laskin | TU, TH | 12:30 pm - 1:59 pm | Dwinelle 211 | Class #:30920 | Units:4

The meaning of the terms “east” and “west” might seem self-evident at first, but on closer examination they raise many questions: Do they refer to specific regions of the globe, and if so, which ones? Are they, instead, descriptions of distinct types of culture? What do “eastern” and “western” cultures consist of? Where did our notions about the meanings of these terms originate? And what can literature and film tell us about the west, the east, and the relations between these two ideas? In this course we’ll delve into these questions and more by looking closely at a series of literary texts and films that challenge—and some that support—our initial ideas about what we mean by “east” and “west.” We’ll pay especially close attention to works that exist between the two poles: travelogues and narratives of immigration, Anglophone literature from India and other former European colonies, and “travelling” texts that have been translated and passed between cultures. Finally, we’ll consider what we use the categories “east” and “west” for, and whether we can imagine a world without them.

Since this an R&C course, its major aim is to help students develop their prowess as readers, writers, and thinkers. We’ll spend time learning tools for building effective analytical arguments as well as tactics for expressing those arguments clearly in writing. In addition to several essays over the course of the semester and reading or viewing assignments for each class, students can expect to complete regular short homework assignments as well as participate frequently in class discussions.

Possible texts and films include:
Jorge Luis Borges, “The Man on the Threshold”
Willa Cather, My Antonia
Simin Daneshvar, Savushun
Amitav Ghosh, The Shadow Lines
J. W. von Goethe, West-East Divan (selections)
Hafez of Shiraz, selections
Hamid Ismailov, The Railway
Rudyard Kipling, “The Man Who Would be King”
Montesquieu, Persian Letters (selections)
V. S. Naipaul, “Jack’s Garden”
Andrei Platonov, Dzhan
Satyajit Ray, Pather Panchali
Edward Said, Orientalism (selections)
William Shakespeare, Othello
Leo Tolstoy, Hadji Murat
Raoul Walsh, The Thief of Bagdad

 

COMLIT R1B 011 - LEC 011: English Composition in Connection with the Reading of World Literature - Modernism and Its Others (tentative)

 TU, TH |  3:30 pm - 4:59 pm | Dwinelle 211 | Class #:21452 | Units:4

Ezra Pound's now famous catch phrase "make it new"; came to define modernism's impulse to continuously redefine itself, thus, reimagining the "new" with each wave of modernist aesthetics. While we will begin this course by laying out some of the formal elements that made modernism "new" over and over again, we will also pay attention to the "it" of modernism's forward-looking project. What does modernism's turn to the past, the old, and the other, say about its temporal, political, and cultural project? Many modernists aimed to express the experiences of modernity through formal techniques of fragments, montage, stream of consciousness and refashioning the familiar; and yet still, the "it" of modernism's call to make it new effectively turned to the past, the racialized and ethnic other, the queer, the supernatural, and other seemingly "unknown" or "primitive" subjects. In this vein, we will also interrogate the discourse of "primitivism," which runs across aesthetic, cultural, spiritual, and temporal categories and simultaneously refers to an original period of time, a proclivity to nature, and a colonial romanticization and debasement of non-western peoples. This course will address the ways in which appropriation, racial masquerading, and mimicry were constitutive to European modernism and therefore complicate the order of modernism's origins as first beginning in the west and the "derivativeness" of the rest. From Picasso's fascination towards African masks to Gertrude Stein's caricaturing of African American vernacular, we will think about how the cultural production of the racialized other is incorporated into the aesthetic projects of "western" modernists of the Euro-American tradition. As a method for both teaching and reading, this course will implement Edward Said's notion of contrapuntal reading, simultaneously approaching works of European modernism, alongside modernist works from the non-western world, whose works troubled these romanticized outlooks of the other and engendered their own modernist techniques.

Selected readings:
Literary Works:
T.S. Eliot, "The Waste Land";
James Joyce, "Araby";
Simin Daneshvar, "Sutra,"; "Bazaar Vakil"
Gertrude Stein, "Melanctha";
Sadegh Hedayat, The Blind Owl
Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis
Bahram Sadeqi, "Malakut"
Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
Tayeb Salih, Season of Migration to the North
Toni Morrison, Jazz

Visual Works:
Pablo Picasso, African Masks
Henri Matisse (selected pieces from Fauvist series)
Sergei Eisenstein, "Que Viva México!" (film)
Saqqakhaneh Arts Movement in Iran (Parviz Tanavoli, etc)

Literary Criticism:
Michael North, The Dialect of Modernism: Race, Language and 20th Century Literature
Fredric Jameson, Modernism and Imperialism from The Modernist Papers
Chana Kronfeld, On the Margins of Modernity: Decentering Literary Dynamics
Paul Gilroy, The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness

 

 

Development Practice Graduate Group

DEVP W297 001 - WBL 001: Global Health and Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa

Class #:27414 | Units:2

Conducted in cooperation with University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and American University of Beirut (AUB), this project- and case- based virtual exchange course will offer students the unique opportunity to learn about issues surrounding global health and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa while participating in a meaningful cross-cultural exchange. Looking at a range of topics related to the subject, the course will be comprised primarily of expert lectures, case studies, and an interdisciplinary group project, in which UC Berkeley students team up with medical students at UCSF and public health graduate students at AUB.

 

 

Ethnic Studies 

ASAMST 128AC 001 - LEC 001: Muslims in America 

Hatem Ahmad Bazian | M, W | 5:00 pm - 6:29 pm | Hearst Field Annex A1 | Class #:21133 | Units:4

The course traces Islam's journey in America. It will deal with the emergence of identifiable Muslim communities throughout the U.S. and focus on patterns of migration, the ethnic makeup of such communities, gender dynamics, political identity, and cases of conversion to Islam. The course will spend considerable time on the African American, Indo-Pakistani, and Arab American Muslim communities since they constitute the largest groupings. It also examines in depth the emergence of national, regional, and local Muslim institutions, patterns of development pursued by a number of them, and levels of cooperation or antagonism. The course seeks an examination of gender relations and dynamics across the various Muslim groupings, and the internal and external factors that contribute to real and imagined crisis. The course seeks to conduct and document the growth and expansion of mosques, schools, and community centers in the greater Bay Area. Finally, no class on Islam in America would be complete without a critical examination of the impacts of 9/11 on Muslim communities, the erosion of civil rights, and the ongoing war on terrorism. 

 

 

French

FRENCH 103A 001 - LEC 001: Language and Culture: Writing and Filming the French Empire

Thoraya S Tlatli |  M, W, F | 11:00 am - 11:59 am | Wheeler 126 | Class #:21819 | Units:4

This class is an historical and literary survey of French colonialism during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will first explore the main ideological aspects of French colonialism based on a reading of the anthology edited by Blanchard and Lemaire, Culture coloniale en France de la Révolution française à nos jours. We will then analyze a few literary texts such as L’amant by Duras, Le premier homme by Camus, and Oran Langue morte, by Djebar. We will also explore the importance of cinema in the resistance against colonialism, in films such as: “La Bataille d’Alger,” “Avoir vingt ans dans les Aures,” “Drawning by bullets,” and “Indigènes.”  For additional details, please visit Dept. website at https://french.berkeley.edu.

 

 

Global Studies

GLOBAL 142 001 - LEC 001: Jews and Muslims

Emily R Gottreich | M, W | 5:00 pm - 6:29 pm | Etcheverry 3106 | Class #:33802 | Units:4

This course studies Muslim-Jewish relations as they developed in the Middle East and North Africa from the rise of Islam to the present day. It analyzes how ethnic and religious boundaries were both drawn and transgressed in historical settings including Arabia in the time of Muhammad, Islamic Spain, the Ottoman Empire, and modern Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, and Israel. It asks how this shared cultural heritage is remembered and mobilized in the contemporary world, shedding light on the current state of Muslim-Jewish relations not only in the MENA but in Europe and the US as well. Films, memoirs, scripture, and historical works form the basis of our inquiry.
Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
Meets Social & Behavioral Sciences, L&S Breadth

 

GLOBAL 154M 001 - LEC 001: Special Topics: Global Middle East - The Gulf States and the Arab Spring: Viva La Revolution or Viva La Counter-Revolution?

Peter A. Bartu | M, W| 5:00 pm - 6:29 pm | Wheeler 204 | Class #:24413 | Units:4

The Gulf States seemed impermeable to the 2011 Arab uprisings but behind the scenes saw regional developments as both threat and opportunity. This course examines the Gulf States and Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE and Qatar in particular and their roles in an ongoing struggle for the heart and soul of a region. Themes explored include: governance, succession, sectarianism, Islam and the state, intra-Gulf conflicts, gender, security and energy.

 

 

Hebrew 

HEBREW 1A 001 - REC 001: Elementary Hebrew 

Rutie Adler | M, TU, W, TH, F | 10:00 am - 10:59 am |  Barrows 252 | Class #:21949 | Units:5

 

HEBREW 20A 001 - LEC 001: Intermediate Hebrew 

Rutie Adler | M, TU, W, TH, F | 11:00 am - 11:59 am |  Barrows 275 | Class #:21913 | Units:5

 

HEBREW 100A 001 - LEC 001: Advanced Hebrew 

Rutie Adler | TU, TH | 12:30 pm - 1:59 pm |  Barrows 275 | Class #:21950 | Units:3

Advanced Hebrew, especially designed for those going on to the study of modern Hebrew literature. Vocabulary building, grammar review, and literary analysis of a sampling of modern texts.

 

HEBREW 104A 001 - LEC 001: Modern Hebrew Literature and Culture

Chana Kronfeld | M | 2:00 pm - 4:59 pm | Barrows 252 | Class #:21914 | Units:3

A close reading of selected works of modern Hebrew fiction, poetry, and drama in their cultural and historical contexts. Topics vary from year to year and include literature and politics, eros and gender, memory and nationalism, Middle-Eastern and European aspects of Israeli literature and culture.

 

HEBREW 204A 001 - SEM 001: Advanced Modern Hebrew Literature and Culture: Three Trends of Hebrew Modernism

Chana Kronfeld | W | 2:00 pm - 4:59 pm | Barrows 252 | Class #:31382 | Units:3

Critical approaches to the history and textual practices of modern Hebrew poetry and fiction. Alternating focus between period, genre, and author, seminar topics include stylistic developments in Hebrew poetry and fiction from the Enlightenment to the present, modernism, and modernity, the creation of the modern Hebrew novel, women writers and the Hebrew canon, and single-author seminars. 

 

 

History

HISTORY 4A 001 - LEC 001: Origins of Western Civilization: The Ancient Mediterranean World

Emily M. Mackil | Tu, Th | 11:00 am - 12:29 pm | North Gate 105 | Class #21933 | Units: 4

This course offers an introductory survey of the history of the ancient Mediterranean world, from the rise of city states in Mesopotamia c.3000 BC to the transformation of the Roman Empire in the 5th and 6th centuries AD. The emphasis will be on the major developments in the political and social history of the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, with special attention to those institutions, practices, ideas, and objects that have had an enduring influence on the development of western civilization. 

 

HISTORY 12 001 - LEC 001: The Middle East

Tu, Th | 11:00 am - 12:29 pm | GSPP 150 | Class #25338 | Units: 4

This course will cover the history of the "Middle East" as a historical, geographic, political, and cultural category. It will be framed by the historical construction of the category in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, then reach back to the advent of Islam in the seventh century CE and forward to the present. Themes will include the Middle East in the Mediterranean world, religion and politics, interconfessional relationships and conflicts, and the changing relationships to Europe, Asia, and Africa over the centuries.

 

HISTORY 20 001 - LEC 001: Introduction to the History of Religion

Ethan H. Shagan | TU, TH | 11:00 am - 12:29 pm | Valley Life Sciences 2040 | Class #:31543 | Units:4

This course introduces students to the history of religion from the earliest written records to the modern world, including the monotheistic traditions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, the Asian traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism, and much else besides. Along the way, we will consider such topics as: the relationship between myth and religion; the ways religions define their boundaries, both to create community and to exclude outsiders; religion as a tool of imperial power, as well as a weapon of emancipation; secularization; the rise of fundamentalism; and the modern relationship of religion and science.
Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
Meets Philosophy & Values, L&S Breadth

 

HISTORY 100M 002 - LEC 002: Special Topics in the History of the Middle East - Jews and Muslims

Emily R Gottreich | M, W | 5:00 pm - 6:29 pm | Etcheverry 3106 | Class #:33802 | Units:4

This course studies Muslim-Jewish relations as they developed in the Middle East and North Africa from the rise of Islam to the present day. It analyzes how ethnic and religious boundaries were both drawn and transgressed in historical settings including Arabia in the time of Muhammad, Islamic Spain, the Ottoman Empire, and modern Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, and Israel. It asks how this shared cultural heritage is remembered and mobilized in the contemporary world, shedding light on the current state of Muslim-Jewish relations not only in the MENA but in Europe and the US as well. Films, memoirs, scripture, and historical works form the basis of our inquiry.
Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
Meets Social & Behavioral Sciences, L&S Breadth

 

HISTORY 175C 001 - LEC 001: Jews and Judaism: From Paris to Jerusalem and Beyond

Ethan Benjamin Katz | TU, TH | 12:30 pm - 1:59 pm | Hearst Field Annex B5 | Class #:31843 | Units:4

This class treats France and the Francophone world as a laboratory for the study of Jewish civilization over the past millennium. France has the world’s second largest Jewish population outside of Israel. It has a rich and complex history that traces all the key developments of the Jewish experience since ancient times: expulsions and migrations; codification of Jewish law; religious reform; the rise of anti-Semitism and the tragedy of the Holocaust; struggles between Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews; complex relations between Muslims and Jews; the emergence modern Jewish politics; and the impact of the Israeli-Arab conflict. As we explore these themes and other themes, students become introduced to most fields of Jewish studies.
 

HISTORY 177B 001 - LEC 001: Armenia: From Pre-modern Empires to the Present

Stephan H Astourian | TU, TH | 12:30 pm - 1:59 pm | Mulford 240 | Class #:32144 | Units:4

Throughout most of this period Armenians lived in three pre-modern empires: the Persian, the Ottoman, and the Russian. As these political entities shaped Armenian life significantly, they will also serve as geographic subdivisions for the lectures of this course. In the twentieth century, two key events and their consequences will draw our attention. First, as a result of the Armenian Genocide, no Armenian population lives any more on most of the Armenian plateau and the size and characteristics of the pre-existing Armenian diaspora have changed dramatically. Second, the reluctant proclamation of a short-lived, independent republic on some parts of eastern Armenia in May 1918 laid the foundation for the subsequent Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic and the current Republic of Armenia.
We will reflect upon a number of themes. First, what was the status of the Armenians in the pre-modern empires and how did it shape the rise of modern Armenian national consciousness? Second, what were the roots of the Armenian-Turkish polarization that put an end to centuries of cohabitation? Third, what are the legacies of the independent republic of 1918-20 and of Soviet Armenia for the current Armenian state? Fourth, how did the dispersion shape the culture, mentalities, socioeconomic development, and political culture of the Armenian people? Fifth, what does it mean to be Armenian in the modern period, especially in the twentieth century? In other words, is there such a thing as a single Armenian identity uniting, say, a Soviet Armenian, an American Armenian, and a Lebanese Armenian? Finally, we will take advantage of this survey to reflect on the main characteristics of modern Armenian culture, institutions, and political life.

 

HISTORY 280U 001 - SEM 001: Advanced Studies: Sources/General Literature of the Several Fields: Studies in Comparative History - Ruins of History

Samera Esmeir, Stefan-Ludwig Hoffmann | TU | 4:00 pm - 6:59 pm | Dwinelle 7415 | Class#: 31322 | Units:4

What is historical time? In this course, we seek an answer to this question by reading the works of German historian and theorist, Reinhart Koselleck, along with a range of writings on history and temporality from Ibn Khaldun to François Hartog to contemporary anthropological, postcolonial and literary scholarship on eschatology, catastrophe, tradition, trauma, remembrance and resilience. Departing from the modernist conception of time as linear and progressive, we begin by investigating the historical making of this understanding, and its partial synchronization of the world, but devote most of the seminar to unpacking other ways of relating to time, inhabiting and remaking the world, being attuned to the ongoing presence of the past, and anticipating the future. By attending closely to Koselleck’s theory of historical times, while presenting it next to other writings on historical and non-historical temporalities, we aim to shed light on the plurality of times that inform different forms of life, beyond the present. Finally, during times of ongoing destruction, the readings in this seminar will help orient us to the ruins of history as not merely the remains of a more holistic past existence, but as sites of obstinacy and possibility. 
The principal writing assignments are weekly summaries and a research paper.

 

 

History of Art

HISTART 290 001 - SEM 001: Special Topics in Fields of Art History, Graduate Seminar: Comparative Conceptualisms-- LA/MENA [Latin America/Middle East/North Africa]

Julia Q Bryan-Wilson, Anneka Lenssen | Tu | 2:00 pm - 4:59 pm | Doe Library 308B | Class #31561 | Units: 2 or 4

This seminar explores how conceptual art—that is, art devoted primarily to generating and manipulating ideas rather than visual appearance—has been made and used by artists in Latin America, the Middle East, and other territories of non- and anti-First World engagement with perceptual and material absences arising from political and economic change

 

HISTART C120B 001 - LEC 001: The Art of Ancient Mesopotamia: 1000-330 BCE

Benjamin Porter | TU, TH | 9:30 am - 10:59 am | Moffitt Library 103 | Class #:33366 | Units:4

The royal art and architecture of later Mesopotamia will be explored in terms of the social, political, and cultural context of the great empires of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia. The course provides an integrated picture of the arts of Mesopotamia and neighboring regions from 1000-330 BCE with an emphasis on the development of visual narrative, the use of art in the expression of authority and legitimacy, and artistic interconnections between cultures. Collections on campus or in the area will be incorporated whenever possible.
This course fulfills the following Major requirements: Geographical area (D) and Chronological period (I). Meets Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth
Meets Historical Studies, L&S BreadthAlso offered as: NESTUD C120B

 

 

Jewish Studies 

JEWISH 100 001 - LEC 001: Introduction to Jewish Religion, Culture, and People - “Travelers, Immigrants, Refugees: Introduction to Jewish History and Literature”

Oren Moshe Yirmiya | TU, TH | 9:30 am - 10:59 am | Dwinelle 234 | Class #:22731 | Units:4

The course is intended to give Jewish studies minors a general introduction to the field through a survey of religious and cultural expressions of Jews across time and geographies. No previous knowledge of Judaism or Jewish Studies is necessary.

 

JEWISH 120 001 - LEC 001: Special Topics in Jewish Studies: Jewish Folktales Around the World: Past & Present, Self & Other

Sarah F. Levin | TU, TH | 11:00 am - 12:29 pm | Dwinelle 211 | Class #:22185 | Units:3 

Folklore helps us make sense of the world we live in at the same time that it entertains us.
In this course, we’ll read a sampling of folktales and jokes from diverse Jewish communities (Moroccan, Polish, Yemeni, Kurdish, Indian, etc.) while exploring themes such as creativity and artistic expression. We’ll also address gender, group identity and values, stereotypes, and the interactions of Jews and non-Jews. Discussions will be supplemented with movies and guest storytellers. Final projects allow students to pursue their interests.
Students from all majors and backgrounds are welcome. Conducted in English with readings in English. Satisfies Arts & Literature breadth requirement and counts towards Jewish Studies Minor.

 

 

JEWISH 122 001 - LEC 001: Topics in Judaism, Introduction to Jewish Mysticism

Tomer Persico | TU, TH | 2:00 pm - 3:29 pm | Barrows 252 | Class #:25444 | Units: 3 or 4

A course on trends in Jewish religious, cultural, and social life. The course will study innovative and conservative aspects of thought, ritual, and belief in relation to contemporary life and traditional Jewish values in at least one country other than the United States.

 

 

Near Eastern Studies 

NESTUD R1A 001 - LEC 001: Reading and Composition in Near Eastern Studies

M, W, F |  2:00 pm - 2:59 pm | Barrows 174 | Class #:25608 | Units:4

Expository writing based on analysis of selected texts or literatures in translation or writings interpreting the material culture of the ancient Near or modern Middle East. Specific topics vary with instructor. R1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R1B satisfies the second half. 

 

NESTUD C26 001 - LEC 001: Introduction to Central Asia

Sanjyot Mehendale | TU, TH | 12:30 pm - 1:59 pm | Wheeler 222 | Class #:22783 | Units:3

This course will introduce the student not only to ancient and modern Central Asia, but also to the role played by the region in the shaping of the history of neighboring regions and regimes. The course will outline the history, languages, ethnicities, religions, and archaeology of the region and will acquaint the student with the historical foundations of some of the political, social and economic challenges for contemporary post-Soviet Central Asian republics. 
Also offered as: GEOG C55
Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
Meets International Studies, L&S Breadth
Meets Social & Behavioral Sciences, L&S Breadth

 

NESTUD 134 001 - LEC 001: Topics in History and Cultures of Israel - Introduction to Jewish Mysticism

Tomer Persico | TU, TH | 2:00 pm - 3:29 pm | Barrows 252 | Class #:26560 | Units:4

A course on trends in Jewish religious, cultural, and social life. The course will study innovative and conservative aspects of thought, ritual, and belief in relation to contemporary life and traditional Jewish values in at least one country other than the United States.
Meets Philosophy & Values, L&S Breadth

 

NESTUD 148 001 - LEC 001: Emergence of the Modern Middle East

Hatem Ahmad Bazian | TU, TH | 12:30 pm - 1:59 pm | Lewis 9 |Class #:33346 | Units:4

The course provides a chronological and thematic approach using biographies and texts to trace the emergence of the modern Middle East from the late 17th to the early 20th century culminating in the dissolution of the Ottoman dynasty and the advent of the nation-state structure. The course contextualizes the region’s social history, culture, religious, and social stratification, colonization, and Orientalism as a pathway toward understanding the forces that shaped the modern Middle East.  
Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth

 

NESTUD 160 001 - LEC 001: Religions of Ancient Iran

Adam Benkato | TU, TH |  9:30 am - 10:59 am | Barrows 166 | Class #:33625 | Units:3

Principally devoted to Zoroastrianism and Manicheanism but with some attention to Indo-Iranian origins, and relevance of Iranian religion for the history of Hellenistic Gnosticism, Judaism, and Islam. 
Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
Meets Philosophy & Values, L&S Breadth

 

NESTUD 161 001 - LEC 001: Art and Culture of the Persian World - Persian Art & Culture (Part II): "A Survey of the 20th Century Arts of Persia/Iran"

Soroor Ghanimati | TU, TH | 2:00 pm - 3:29 pm | Barrows 271 | Class #:26449 | Units:4

An introduction to the visual and material cultures of the Persianate world. Persian art has one of the richest artistic heritages in world history and includes a wide range of artistic development in architecture, sculpture, painting, weaving, pottery, calligraphy, and metalwork. This course will explore the arts in terms of their larger social, political, and cultural context in history. In addition to the Iranian plateau, the course may also cover other regions that are part of the Iranian cultural domain, which stretches from India, Afghanistan, Central Asia to Egypt, and the Mediterranean. 
During the last few decades before and after the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the Iranian arts in general have flourished and manifested itself in an extra ordinary way in all mediums of arts expressions.  In particular, a reassertion of pre-Islamic Persian arts, cultures, traditions and values has emerged which is now visible in the Iranian modern art and architecture, many of which has been added to the collection of the western museums. Thus, the exploration into these topics will constitute the core of this course.  It is intended that we should identify and record some of these art forms as part of the history of the land of Iran.  In addition, it is hoped that other important topics should surface up in this course.  For example, what does immigration mean for the Iranian people, and how it is manifested in the modern Iranian arts, if any, and how it is narrated in the non-Iranian lands and in Diaspora.
Meets Arts & Literature, L&S Breadth
Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth

 

NESTUD 180 001 - LEC 001: The Quran and Its Interpretation

Asad Ahmed |  TU, TH |  11:00 am - 12:29 pm |  Barrows 170 | Class #:33437 | Units:4

The course introduces students to Quran and to methods of its interpretation, as adopted in the exegetical (tafsir) literature. In addition to being exposed to secondary academic literature on the Quran and its exegesis, students will be offered a high dose of primary exegetical texts in translation. Passages from a number of periods and denominations will be selected, so that students may develop an appreciation of the interpretive range of a constantly-evolving tradition. 
Meets Historical Studies, L&S Breadth
Meets Philosophy & Values, L&S Breadth

 

NESTUD 190A 001 - LEC 001: Special Topics in Fields of Near Eastern Studies: Ancient Near Eastern Studies - Pandemics and Disease in the Ancient World

Carol Ann Redmount | W | 2:00 pm - 4:59 pm | Barrows 271 | Class #:31397 | Units:4

Pandemics are not new, and COVID-19 is only the most recent of a long line of sporadically occurring epidemics that stretches back into antiquity. In this seminar, we will look at the evidence for ancient pandemics in Egypt and the Eastern Mediterranean from prehistoric times through Late Antiquity. At the same time, we will examine approaches to and understandings of disease in general in these areas and time periods.

 

NESTUD 190A 002 - LEC 002: Special Topics in Fields of Near Eastern Studies: Ancient Near Eastern Studies - Middle East: Migration, Displacement & Diaspora

Class #:31399 | Units:4

Topics explore themes and problems in the various fields of Near Eastern studies. They often reflect the research interests of the instructor and supplement regular curricular offerings. Specific descriptions of current offerings in this series are available through the department. 

 

NESTUD 190E 001 - LEC 001: Special Topics in Fields of Near Eastern Studies: Arabic - Reel Arabs: Film and Fiction in the Middle East

Ahmad Diab | W | 3:00 pm - 5:59 pm | Wheeler 20 | Class #:25442 | Units:4

This course introduces students to key themes in modern Arabic literature and film from a global perspective. The course addresses such themes as desire under authoritarian rule, revolution through the looking glass, diasporic approaches to space, taboo memories, life in the settler colony, the borders of utopia/dystopia, the limits of representation, hybridity and authenticity. Course materials will include films, novels, short stories, essays, poems and critical articles. The reading materials will provide a variety of analytical tools that will interrogate the disciplinary contours of both film studies and literature. The course is designed to maximize time for class discussion and student participation.

 

IRANIAN 201A 001 - LEC 001: Iranian Philology

Adam Benkato | W | 2:00 pm - 4:59 pm |  Barrows 8A | Class #:33626 | Units:3

Reading of texts in Avestan, western Middle Iranian, and Sogdian, taken from Zoroastrian, Manichaean, and Buddhist texts. 

 

NESTUD 298 001 - SEM 001: Seminar

Asad Ahmed | TH | 2:00 pm - 4:59 pm | Barrows 275 | Class #19255 | Units: 1-4

Special topics in Near Eastern Studies. Topics vary and are announced at the beginning of each semester.

 

NESTUD 298 002 - SEM 002: Seminar - Islamic Art & Architecture From Persia to Spain

Soroor Ghanimati | W | 2:00 pm - 4:59 pm | Barrows 275 | Class #:19256 | Units:1-4

Special topics in Near Eastern Studies. Topics vary and are announced at the beginning of each semester. 

 

NESTUD 375 001 - SEM 001: Teaching Modern Near Eastern Languages in College: Seminar in Language Pedagogy

Elsa Elmahdy | TU | 3:00 pm - 5:59 pm | Barrows 275 | Class #:32868 | Units:3

This course is an introductory course that surveys theories of learning and approaches to the teaching of foreign languages in college. Theories will be analyzed and students encouraged to test those theories against their own experiences as students and teachers. This course is designed for new Graduate Student Instructors of Hebrew, Arabic, Persian and Turkish. This course includes classroom observations and reflective teaching. 

 

 

Persian 

PERSIAN 1A 001 - LEC 001: Elementary Persian

Gholam-reza Ghahramani | M, TU, W, TH, F | 10:00 am - 10:59 am | Barrows 271 | Class #:22868 | Units:5

Introduction to Persian language, covering basics of the language skills in all aspects of reading, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking with emphasis on culture and communicative methods. 

 

PERSIAN 20A 001 - REC 001: Intermediate Modern Persian

Gholam-reza Ghahramani | M, TU, W, TH, F | 1:00 pm - 1:59 pm | Barrows 78 | Class #:22869 | Units:5

The sequence begins in the fall. This course emphasizes reading of simple literary texts, expository writing and composition, formal conversation, grammar, and syntax. It involves intensive vocabulary building in preparation for advanced reading and comprehension of standard literary texts. 

 

PERSIAN 100A 001 - LEC 001: Advanced Persian

Gholam-reza Ghahramani | TU, TH | 11:00 am - 12:29 pm | Barrows 252 | Class #:22870 | Units:3

Emphasis on intensive vocabulary building, comprehensive grammar review, reading and analysis of short literary texts of various genres from classical and modern periods, and reading newspaper clips and other original sources in Persian media.

 

PERSIAN 103A 001 - LEC 001: Classical Persian Poetry

Fateme Montazeri | TU, TH | 12:30 pm - 1:59 pm | Barrows 252 | Class #:26255 | Units:3

Systematic study of poems belonging to all genres of classical Persian poetry, with consideration of questions of prosody, rhetoric, and style. 
 

 

Sociology 

SOCIOL 140 001 - LEC 001: Politics and Social Change

Cihan Ziya Tugal | TU, TH | 12:30 pm - 1:59 pm | Kroeber 160 | Class #:23643 | Units:4

This course focuses on the interaction between politics and society.  We will look at different forms of politics including voting, social movements, party politics, state policies, direct democratic action, and revolution.  We will discuss whether, how, when, and why each of these forms of political action impact social change.  We will ask whether some are more influential ways of bringing about change than others. We will study both historical examples and contemporary cases based on sociological perspectives. The cases we will focus on include the New Deal, the Bolshevik Revolution, the Civil Rights movement, student movements of the 1960s, and the global uprisings of 2011-2013.
Meets Social & Behavioral Sciences, L&S Breadth

 

Turkish 

TURKISH 1A 001 - LEC 001: Elementary Modern Turkish

Jason Rodriguez Vivrette |   M, TU, W, TH, F | 10:00 am - 10:59 am | Barrows 8A | Class #:23824 | Units:5

 

TURKISH 100A 001 - LEC 001: Intermediate Modern Turkish

Jason Rodriguez Vivrette | M, TU, W, TH, F | 11:00 am - 11:59 am | Barrows 8A | Class #:31404 | Units:5

 

TURKISH 101A 001 - LEC 001: Readings in Modern Turkish

Jason Rodriguez Vivrette | TU, TH | 12:30 pm - 1:59 pm | Barrows 8A | Class #:33375 | Units:3

Selected topics from modern Turkish literary works.