Global Arc

World War I changed - and ended - the lives of millions. Its impact upon the Middle East is widely acknowledged but not often explored. The war destroyed the old imperial Ottoman order, paving the way to the elimination of the Caliphate and the emergence of nation-states across the Middle East and the Caucasus. It fundamentally altered concepts of identity, patterns of authority, notions of religion, and ethnic and political borders. This seminar examines the Great War in the Middle East from right before WWI through the immediate post-war period. Topics include geopolitics, empire, Pan-Islam, nationalism, ethnic conflict, Zionism, and oil.

The Middle East is often represented and imagined as a space with a surplus of morality, with too much religion, or too much politics. This course aims to critically investigate and historically contextualize both concepts and practices of morality in the modern Middle East by delving into key issues drawn from the realms of law, religious culture, society, and everyday life. Topics may include: the nature of moral discourse; the interplay of law and society; the ethics and politics of the colonial encounter; issues of gender and sexual morality; controversial social practices; and the moral and ethical dimensions of religious revival.

The rise of the golden age of Hebrew poetry in Muslim Spain; the Arabic literary background; lyrical, liturgical, and contemplative verse by great poets of the 11th and 13th centuries (Shmuel ha-Nagid, Ibn Gabirol, Judah Halevi, Todros Abulafia, etc.). Narratives in rhymed prose. Two weeks devoted to developments outside Spain: the 12th / 13th c. martyrdom poems from France and the Rhineland, and, in conclusion, the adoption of Romance forms, especially the sonnet, in the Hebrew poetry of Italy. Weekly Hebrew readings. Taught in English. Prerequisite: Hebrew 302 or instructor's permission. Two 90-minute seminars.

This course provides an overview of North African history from the 16th to the 19th century, namely from the Ottoman conquest of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, to the beginning of the European colonization in this area. Through a range of secondary and primary sources, we will start by understanding to what extent Maghrib is a medieval and an Islamic legacy. We will also analyze the ways the administrations and the political cultures were shaped by the various experiences of Islamic powers and how the links to Europe, the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa were redefined and still affect the way we conceive this area.

Although the Middle East is often seen as exceptional, it is part of our globe: through connections and in being part of worldwide processes. This seminar's double goal is to study the Middle East from this perspective, and thereby also to explore how the modern world emerged. We will use Irye, Osterhammel, and Rosenberg, ed., A History of the World, 2 vols., covering 1870 to the present, as the backbone of the course; and in parallel read case studies on the Middle East in the world, including global cultural patterns, social webs, economic ties, imperial action, state building and international system, and the spread of political ideas.

An exercise in comparative history and the application of theoretical constructs to historical events. Examines a range of theories of nationalism, state, and empire; applies them to the historical records of three multi-ethnic dynastic empires--the Ottoman, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian; explores the ways in which theories can both elucidate and obscure historical processes. Questions of the nature of empire, the rise of nationalism, and the processes of imperial collapse, among others, will be explored. One three-hour seminar.

Ancient near eastern literature constitutes a universe of cultural spheres - be they legal, religious, historical or literary - each of which harbors a repertory of genres that have developed through an ongoing engagement with this sphere. The concept of genre proves to be of a dynamic nature always adapting itself to the message, function and performative context of the text. In this course we will look at a range of central texts of ancient near eastern literature and analyze them with theoretically and conceptually conceived underpinnings.

In this seminar we shall be looking at aspects of the relations between the Church and the Empire in Late Antiquity. Special attention will be given to early and late antique Christian views of the Empire and the role of the emperor, to the age of Constantine and the political theology of Eusebius of Caesarea, and to the subsequent manifestation of the Eusebean conception of the emperor during the reign of Justinian in the 6th century. Primary sources in translation (legal texts, patristic literature, acts of Church councils) will be studied in the light of secondary literature.

This course introduces a concise look on modern Turkish literature predominantly through short stories. It aims to provide a sample of Turkish literary writing and basic knowledge of its actors and works. The reading list is naturally shaped by the limited number of English translations available, nevertheless it will offer a colorful picture of diverse authors, their works, literary themes and styles, as well as social, political and cultural issues in Turkey during the last century.

This course will cover about two thirds of the Qur'anic text in the English translation of Kenneth Cragg, which has the advantage for an initial study of organizing the Qur'anic passages according to broad themes. The course aims at bringing the student as close as possible to the Arabic original and will draw extensively on traditional exegesis (tafsir) as well as critical Qur'anic scholarship. No previous study of Islam is required.