Global Arc

An introduction to the history and culture of the Jews in the Middle Ages (under Islam and Christendom) covering, comparatively, such topics as the interrelationship between Judaism and the other two religions, interreligious polemics, political (legal) status, economic role, communal self-government, family life, and cultural developments. Two 90-minute classes.

Jerusalem is considered a holy city to three faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In this course, students will learn the history of Jerusalem from its founding in pre-biblical times until the present. Over the course of the semester, we will ask: What makes space sacred and how does a city become holy? What has been at stake - religiously, theologically, politically, nationally - in the many battles over Jerusalem? What is the relationship between Jerusalem as it was and Jerusalem as it was (and is) imagined?

An introduction to Classical Arabic Literature from pre-Islamic Arabian poetry to 17th century burlesque tales from Cairo, this course familiarizes you with the authors and texts that shaped the classical Arabic literary heritage. Poetry, tales, and fables will acquaint you with genres such as the qasida, ghazal, and the maqamat, providing a sense of literature at a time when Arabic was the language of writing from Spain to India. Keeping in mind our positionality in relation to the material, we will address questions of genre, periodization, translation, and aesthetic judgment.

This course provides a broad-ranging survey of the study of women and gender in the Middle East and North Africa. Its aim is two-fold: to introduce beginners to the main concepts and themes of scholarly research in the humanities and social sciences during the last century, focusing on women and gender in regions where there are significant Muslim communities; and, to examine how human beings in a variety of historical and cultural contexts in the Middle East and North Africa experience or have experienced gender - what it means to be or become a man or a woman, and the power relations that inhere in gender as a social institution.

This course is designed as an introduction to the political, religious and social history of Late Antique and Medieval Iran. Beginning with the rise of the Sasanian Empire in the 3rd century CE, we will trace the history of the idea of Iran as a political and cultural entity. Next we will examine the Arab conquests of Iran and the profound social changes experienced by Iranians during the early Islamic period. Finally we will conclude with a study of Iran in the centuries leading up to the Mongol conquest, focusing on the institution of kingship within the Islamic world. Throughout the course, a close reading of primary sources is emphasized.

This seminar examines Jews' and Christians' lives in the medieval Islamic world through the lens of religious conversion. In the seventh century, a mix of Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, and pagans lived in the Middle East. Four hundred years later, most of these people's descendants were Muslims. This shift changed what it meant to belong to a religious community, for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. We will examine this enormous historical change and its effects, focusing first on the long process of conversion to Islam after the Arab conquests, and then on the contexts of individual and mass conversions in medieval Islamic societies.

This course introduces students to the historical, religious, political and social dimensions of Muslim presence in the United States. It is framed by methodological discussions about the study of Islam and Muslims in America and by the question whether we can speak of the emergence of a specifically American Islam over the last century. The course addresses themes such as religious practice, political participation, gender issues, Muslim everyday culture and Islamic Law, as well as the historical and contemporary differences and convergences between African American and immigrant Muslim communities and their descendants.

A broad-ranging introduction to pre-modern, modern, and contemporary Islam in light of how Muslims have approached their foundational religious text, the Qur'an. Topics include: Muhammad and the emergence of Islam; theology, law and ethics; war and peace; mysticism; women and gender; and modern debates on Islamic reform. This course examines the varied contexts in which Muslims have interpreted their sacred text, their agreements and disagreements on what it means, and more broadly, their often competing understandings of Islam and of what it is to be a Muslim. Three classes.

This course will examine contemporary religious trends in Iran, with special attention given to the interaction between Shi`ism and contemporary social and economic processes in Iran and elsewhere. The social and political contexts of various approaches to religion will be explored. We will examine the ethnic, social and cultural patterns that dominate religious movements in Iran today.

This course exposes students to the historical, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural factors that have shaped Indigenous Amazigh communities in Tamazgha (North Africa) and its diasporas. It examines the role that Amazigh communities have played in revitalizing their cultures in contemporary Tamazgha and makes visible the acknowledgement the Amazighity of lands in North Africa and complexities of language, cultural identity, and colonialism in the region. Many resources in the source will be taken from the instructor's talks with family members, other Indigenous scholars, and activists in the community.