This class develops the basic structures and vocabulary for understanding, speaking, writing and reading Modern Standard Arabic, the shared formal variety of Arabic used throughout the Arab world. Students will also gain some familiarity with both Egyptian and Levantine colloquial dialects. Class activities are designed to foster communication and cultural competence through comprehension and grammar exercises, skits, conversation, videos and songs.

This course builds on the skills developed in Elementary Arabic. Students in this course work to improve their proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing. We will focus primarily on Modern Standard Arabic in reading and writing, but Levantine and/or Egyptian dialect may be used in informal speaking and listening exercises.

Continuation of ARA 107 with reading, writing, speaking, and listening development at the Intermediate High and Advanced levels of proficiency. After completion of the "Al-Kitaab," part 2 textbook, course will turn to reading in a variety of contemporary genres. Course will include review and expansion of students' grammatical knowledge. Students will be expected to communicate primarily in Arabic.

In this course, students will develop their skills in reading and listening to Arabic news media, including newspapers, magazines, websites, radio and satellite TV broadcasts (including BBC and al-Jazeera, among others). Attention will also be given to informal discussion of current news, and we will also take a brief look at political cartoons. Language of instruction will be primarily Arabic.

This creative writing course, guided by Dr. 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. Course will be taught entirely in Arabic.

This course is designed for students with little or no previous exposure to modern Hebrew. Over the fall semester, students will become familiar with the Hebrew alphabet, and acquire rudimentary skills in reading, writing, speaking and comprehending modern Hebrew. By the end of the semester, students will be able to read short texts, construct normative sentences, and conduct simple conversations. In addition, a wide range of audiovisual materials will provide the students with an immersive environment, contextualize their knowledge of the language, and help them gain an understanding of life and culture in Israel.

This course is designed for students who have completed basic modern Hebrew language courses, and aims at further developing reading, writing, speaking and comprehending skills. Emphasis will be placed on grammar and syntax, on conversational skills, and on creative writing. By the end of the Fall term students will be able to read and analyze literary texts, respond to and discuss contemporary media contents (films, journal and newspaper articles, blogs), to give class presentations and write short essays.

This course investigates topics and themes in Israeli culture; this semester it will explore Israeli culture representing Middle Eastern Jews and Hebrew-language culture produced by them and their descendants in Israel (Mizrahi culture). Through analysis of cultural sources depicting and produced by Mizrahi Jews, students will assess Mizrahi culture's relationship to the European-inspired culture of early state period Israel. This assessment will expand their understanding of Israeli culture and develop their Hebrew language proficiency through engagement with authentic Hebrew sources.

The focus of this elementary course is on sounds, letters and basic grammar of Persian language. The students will be exposed to the Persian culture through selected prose, daily news and class discussions.

PER 105 is designed to introduce students to intermediate level Persian. It stresses oral fluency, written expression, and reading comprehension. It will help the students to read texts of intermediate level difficulty communicate and converse in Persian in everyday situations write intermediate narrative style paragraphs coherently with reasonable accuracy.

This course is designed to improve the student's proficiency in the reading and comprehension of Persian texts. The emphasis is on reading and understanding and translating modern and classical prose. In the Advanced Persian course students are also expected to write essays in Persian during the course of the semester. Advanced Persian Reading class will be conducted in Persian.

A performance-oriented, multi-media introductory course in modern spoken and written Turkish. Based on authentic input, grammatical properties of the language are introduced. Cultural aspects are stressed throughout. Language skills are developed through communicative activities in class and individualized work with interactive digitized learning aids.

Extensive exposure to current news, authentic multimedia sources; in-depth review of grammar. Introduction to modern Turkish literature, with close reading of selected prose and poetry. Development of all language skills and cultural understanding is emphasized.

A colloquium primarily intended to introduce graduate students to major scholarly trends and debates in the various disciplines and methodologies of Middle East and Islamic Studies.

The course offers a hands-on introduction to such basic genres of medieval scholarship as biography, history, tradition, and Koranic exegesis, taught through the intensive reading of texts, mostly in Arabic. The syllabus varies according to the interests of the students and the instructor.

An introduction to the writing system and grammar of Ottoman Turkish through close reading of graded selections taken from school books, newspapers, short stories, and travelogues printed in the late Ottoman and early Republican era.

This course gives students an overview of the classical Arabic genre of the maqama and the scholarly debates surrounding it, focusing on its main authors, al-Hamadhani and al-Hariri. We also read examples of maqamat by other authors, including the Andalusian al-Saraqusti, as well as touch on the Hebrew maqamas of al-Harizi, and modern Arabic imitations of the genre, including by al-Muwaylihi and Emile Habibi. This course is taught in Arabic but will accommodate varying proficiency levels and backgrounds. All students with advanced knowledge of Arabic are welcome.

This course explores ethnographic approaches to the study of gender, Islam, and inequality. It surveys the theoretical approaches used to study the intersection of religious practices, gender, and sexuality. Topics include religious women's agency; queer and transgender agency; self and subjectivity; religious law, ethics and politics; governance and the state; and progress, secularism, imperialism and modernity.

This intensive reading seminar situates recent monographs from a variety of disciplines against the backdrop of extant scholarly literature and broader intellectual debates that continue to shape the field of Middle East studies, in general, and Middle East history, in particular.

This course surveys the history of the north and south Caucasus. It begins with an overview of the region's geography, peoples, and religions. It then examines in more detail the history of the Caucasus from the Russian conquest to the present day. Topics covered include ethnic and religious coexistence and conflict, imperial rule, imagery and identity, the formation of national identities, Sovietization, energy, and democratization and its discontents.

Course examines the histories, politics and societies of several countries of the Arabian Peninsula. Particular focus is given to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Students explore the complex relationships the peoples of Arabia have with their past, the outside world, and such matters as the social and cultural divisions between the bedu and the hadar, and the interior versus the coastal populations. The course also examines the phenomena of Islamic reformism, political Islam, the dynamics of the global oil market and its effects on society. The aim of the course is to get students acquainted with the modern history of Arabia.

This course focuses on reading texts that are illustrative of various issues in Muslim religious thought. The texts are selected according to students' needs.

A study of a number of central problems, historiographical issues, and primary sources relevant to the history of the late Ottoman Empire. Topics vary from year to year.

This seminar offers a broad-ranging survey of the history of Islamic law in South Asia, from the early sixteenth century to the present. It examines key developments relating to legal thought and practice under the Mughals, during colonial rule, and in postcolonial India and Pakistan. It seeks to put recent scholarship in Islamic Studies in conversation with law in the South Asian context and to look at Islamic law from multiple perspectives, including that of the state and its functionaries, the ulama and, where possible, the ordinary people. Topics include: slavery; marriage and divorce; violence; criminal law; and legal modernism.

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