Global Arc

The major Near Eastern abd Balkan diplomatic crises, the main developments in internal Near Eastern history, and the Eastern Question as perceived by the Great Powers. The focus will be on the possible connections between diplomatic crises and the process of modernization. One three-hour seminar.

Since 9/11, madrasas have often been viewed as sites of indoctrination into Islamic radicalism. This seminar seeks to examine the broad range of institutions to which the term "madrasa" refers in modern Muslim societies, as well as other related institutions of Islamic education. Addresses the transformations they have undergone since the 19th century, and how these institutions shape and are shaped by Muslim politics in varied contexts. One three-hour seminar.

An analysis of political, economic, and social institutions with emphasis on the problems of continuity and change, the factors allowing for and limiting Ottoman expansion, and Ottoman awareness of Europe. Two 90-minute classes.

An examination of the Westernization movement; administrative reforms; Young Ottoman, Young Turk, and ethnic-nationalist movements; great diplomatic crises of the 19th and 20th centuries; emergence of modern Turkish republic; and the consequences of the Ottoman collapse. Two 90-minute classes. Offered in alternate years.

The Ottoman Empire is traditionally viewed through a paradigm which stresses its Islamic character. In keeping with this assessment its advances into southeastern Europe from the mid-fourteenth century onward are usually portrayed as stemming from a desire to expand the frontiers of the Islamic East at the expense of the Christian West. This course will present an alternative explanation: one focusing on the extent to which the early Ottomans absorbed the peoples, practices, and nobilities of the pre-existing Christian peoples of the Balkans.

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.