Global Arc

In this seminar, we shall study the ways in which the Christian Bible, comprising the Old and the New Testament, was interpreted in the early Church. After a broad survey of the history of Biblical interpretation to the end of the sixth century, we shall focus on the exegesis of specific Biblical themes (The Creation Narrative; the Story of Cain and Abel; the Sacrifice of Isaac; themes from the Book of Daniel; the Adoration of the Magi; Christ's Entry into Jerusalem; Lazarus and the Rich Man). Primary sources will be read in English translation.

A survey of the history of Islamic law, its developments, and the attempts of the Muslim jurists to come to terms with the challenges of modern time. The course will focus on the issues of constitutional, public, international, and personal laws that have the greatest relevance to the modern era. One three-hour seminar.

Examines the outlines of Islamic family law in gender issues, sexual ethics, family structure, family planning, marriage and divorce, parenthood, and child guardianship and custody. Provides a general survey of the Islamic legal system: its history and developments, structure and spirit, and the attempts of the Muslim jurists to adapt law to changing times. One three-hour seminar.

Examines the outlines of Islamic ritual law. Starting with a general survey of pre-modern Islamic legal discourse, the course focuses on such issues as Islamic festivals, religious birth and death rituals, the concepts of worship and sacrifice, and various Islamic acts of devotion in matters such as prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and annual pilgrimage to Mecca. One three-hour seminar.

Begins with the formation of the traditional Islamic world in the seventh century and ends with the first signs of its transformation under Western impact in the 18th century. The core of the course is the history of state formation in the Middle East, but other regions and themes make significant appearances. The course can stand on its own or serve as background to the study of the modern Islamic world. Two 90-minute classes.

In 1370, a Central Asian Turk named Timur the Lame conquered territories from Anatolia & Russia to India & China. For the next five centuries, the style of Muslim kingship that emerged in Central Asia, Iran, and India was deeply rooted in his memory. In this course we explore the worlds of early modern Asia and trace the lingering influences of Timurid courtly culture in the Safavid (1501-1722) and Mughal (1526-1857) empires. The course will incorporate discussions of literature, the arts, and religious movements within their historical contexts. The reading of primary historical and literary sources in translation will be emphasized.

Islamic conquest of Spain in AD 711 brought about five hundred years of fruitful if uneasy coexistence between Muslims, Christians and Jews on western European soil, profoundly modifying European civilization itself when Caliphal Cordova was hailed as "Jewel of the World," until battlefield reverses broke Islamic domination. The subsequent spring course, "Granada: The Fall of Spanish Islam 1212-1614," addresses increasing repression which ended "The Spain of the Three Religions." Taught in English.

Thirteenth-century Christian "Reconquista" of almost all of Spain after 1212 - with the significant exception of the sultanate of Granada - subjected huge minorities of Muslims and Jews to Christian overlords and challenged the rising kingdoms of Castile, Aragon and Portugal to cope with religious diversity. The course explores how the Christian kingdoms at first imitated and tried to implement Islamic precedents in tolerance but then how social strains spawned increasing sectarian intolerance, mass expulsions or forced conversions of Jews and Muslims, and finally creation of the religiously absolutist monarchies of Spain and Portugal.

An examination of changes currently affecting the Republic of Turkey, including internal and external problems precipitated by factors such as rapid urbanization, growing ethnic conscience, and regional instability. Two 90-minute classes.

This course explores how various forms of violence and urban conflict made the modern Middle East and offers an understanding of how violence is both a destructive and a constructive act. Students will explore different modes of violence as an individual and collective experience, an urban process, and a historical event. Through critical considerations of middle eastern spaces, the course focuses on the transformative powers of violence, its ability to draw the boundaries of urban life, to create and divide communities, and to affect the ruling strategies of governments, local elites, and transnational political players.