Global Arc

An examination of the political dimensions of Islam, involving a study of the nature of Islamic political theory, the relationship between the religious and political establishments, the characteristics of an Islamic state, the radicalization of Sunni and Shi'i thought, and the compatibility of Islam and the nation-state, democracy, and constitutionalism, among other topics. Students will be introduced to the complex and polemical phenomenon of political Islam, using examples drawn mainly, though not exclusively, from cases and writings from the Middle East. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

Introduces advanced undergraduates to the basic methods of research and analysis in history and the social sciences as well as to fundamental debates in the field of Near Eastern Studies. Topics addressed include causality, research design, case studies, selection bias, historicism, Orientalism, ethnography, textual analysis, and the ethics of research.

The course traces the great powers' struggle for control over the Middle East, as it affected Afghanistan. It begins with an introduction to the social and ethnic background, touching on the rise of the tribal Afghan kingdom in the 18th century. It will then focus on the rivalries between Russia and Britain in the 19th century ('the Great Game'), and on those between the Soviet Union and the US in the 20th. We will conclude by studying Washington's support in the 1980's for Islamist groups fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, its consequences, and the Taliban movement.

Spanish Islam profoundly influenced medieval Judaism and Christendom alike - and through them, world civilization - from the Muslim conquest of most of Spain in A.D. 711 to the fall of the last Moorish stronghold in Granada in 1492 - on the eve of Columbus' voyage. Vital debate on modern Spanish identity centers on whether medieval Spain's Muslims and Jews were "foreign" or somehow "Spanish," too. A fruitful but uneasy 800-year coexistence ended in the expulsion of all Muslims and Jews, posing crucial questions regarding the roots of enduring cultural and religious strains in today's world.

An investigation of minority and minorities in the modern Middle East, this course looks at the categories that the social sciences and the humanities have used to frame and analyze the "problem" of minorities well as the historical development and transformation of minority cultures, identities and political practices in a variety of Middle Eastern contexts. Topics covered will include: minorities in the medieval and early modern Middle East; Kurdish communities in Turkey and Iraq; the Armenian historical experience; Shi'i Muslims in the Arab world; Berbers in North America; and Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Introduces the transdisciplinary field of trauma studies by examining visions of humanity from the Global South that prioritize alternative narratives and paradigms of healing individual and collective trauma. Re-orienting healing as a decolonizing process enables students to re-politicize personal trauma as it intersects with global legacies of violence, war, racism, slavery, patriarchy, colonialism, orientalism, homophobia, ableism, capitalism, and extractivism. The course participates in a new project to help illuminate how the humanities itself can offer new paths to understanding trauma and healing.