Global Arc

How did the introduction of new text technologies impact premodern culture? What motivated or delayed the adoption of the codex or the various types of print? Did these technologies encourage new practices or suppress old ones? And how does the story change when we turn from European to Near Eastern contexts? By learning about past text technologies, we'll gain a fuller understanding of how today's digital text technologies leave their mark on how we interact with texts and with the world. This course teaches relevant digital humanities methods for texts and reflects critically on both our current moment and premodern pasts.

Spanning Europe and Asia, the Turkish Republic has long been regarded as a global lynchpin state due to its geography. But no less important has been its role as a bellwether of modernity. Founded by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923 out of the wreckage of the Ottoman empire, the Turkish Republic with its secular and nationalist ideology championed the universality of Western modernity through the 20th century. But in the 21st century, the Turkey of Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to chart a different course. Topics covered include ethno-nationalism, modernity, Islam and Islamism, gender, language and identity, and the Kurdish Question.

This course will explore recent ethnographic/historical texts on material heritage and memory in the Middle East in order to delve into engagements with "the past" and the underlying dynamics which have driven the seemingly paradoxical relationships between "authenticity" and "modernity" in the region.

Students will become familiar with major Palestinian authors and filmmakers, including Mahmoud Darwish and Emile Habibi, as well as Hany Abu Assad and Elia Suleiman. They will gain insight into the life of Palestinians through their eyes. We will ask what unifies a body of literature and cultural output that has been produced not only in Arabic, but also in Hebrew and English, by authors and filmmakers who carry a variety of citizenships (or none at all). We will address the influence of politics on art and the effectiveness of art as a political tool. The course is taught in English.

This creative writing course, guided by Professor Alaa Al Aswany, focuses on mastering fiction's essential elements and techniques, such as story sketching, dialogue, character creation, structure, and plot development. It emphasizes learning from the rich diversity of Middle Eastern writers, including those in the diaspora, living in exile, and revolutionary voices, to enhance students' writing practices. Participants will engage in writing exercises, craft two short stories, and work on a novel's treatment, plan, and opening chapter, benefiting from feedback from both the professor and classmates.

The senior thesis (498-499) is a year-long project in which students complete a substantial piece of research and scholarship under the supervision and advisement of a Princeton faculty member. While a year-long thesis is due in the student's final semester of study, the work requires sustained investment and attention throughout the academic year.

The senior thesis (498-499) is a year-long project in which students complete a substantial piece of research and scholarship under the supervision and advisement of a Princeton faculty member. While a year-long thesis is due in the student's final semester of study, the work requires sustained investment and attention throughout the academic year.

There have been people who have hated Jews qua Jews for over two thousand years. Prejudice against Jews is often called humanity's "oldest hatred," and yet it has taken many different forms over the millennia. Using a historical-critical approach, we will trace Jew-hatred chronologically and across vast territories and cultures. We will consider anti-Jewish prejudice in both Christian and Islamic lands, in the west and the east. Over the course of the semester, students will study texts regarded as scripture, works of philosophy, legal texts, historical narratives, polemics, and screeds.

This course investigates the historical roles of arms production and use in shaping militarization in Palestine/Israel, from the late Ottoman Empire and British rule to the present day. What made various historical actors at different points in time decide to use arms or object to their use? How and to what extent did the materiality of arms - their production, dissemination, design, or operation - influence these choices? Using archival documents, films, poetry, fiction, and art, we will explore such questions and examine how militarization has profoundly shaped the subjectivities of those affected by it across different times and contexts.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine sparked the greatest crisis since the Cold War and has put Eurasia again at the center of global politics. This course examines the evolution of American foreign policy toward Eurasia from 1991 onward. It seeks to identify the factors that have driven American policy, placing theoretical perspectives that emphasize geopolitical and balance-of-power considerations alongside those that focus on domestic politics and regime type. What are American objectives in Eurasia and how have they evolved? What roles do ideas, institutions, and individuals play in the formulation and execution of foreign policy?