Instructor: Hassouneh,Rima Saudi
Credits: 3
Reqs: HU

This course focuses on the literature written by Arab-Americans over the last century, including short stories, novels, poetry and autobiographies. We will explore the themes of this literature as they engage with American literary and cultural traditions. We will also consider the various contexts and conditions in which this literature was produced. To some extent, this means thinking of how literature by Arab-Americans articulates with and “negotiates” the myths and ideals by which America has defined itself historically and till the present. We will get a partial sense of this when we compare Arab-American experiences and writings to those of other racial-ethnic groups in America, like Latina/os, Asian-Americans, Native Americans, and African-Americans, to whose identities experiences and ideals of migration and travel, democracy and freedom, belonging and sense of “home,” and self-advancement have been central. Requirements for the course include: in-class attendance, frequent short response papers, an oral presentation, a midterm essay, and a final exam.

AMCULT 235 - From Harems to Terrorists: Representing the Middle East in Hollywood Cinema
Section 001, LEC

Instructor: Alsultany,Evelyn Azeeza
Credits: 4
Reqs: HU, RE

This course provides an overview of representations of Arabs and Arab-Americans in the U.S. media, and specifically Hollywood cinema. Through an examination of Hollywood films over the last century, such as The Sheik (1921), Harum Scarum (1965), and True Lies (1994), it traces a shift in stereotypes from the rich Arab sheik with a harem to the Arab terrorist. Through this process, the course examines the connection between representations and the historical and political moment in which they are created and disseminated, from European colonization of the Arab world, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the Iran hostage crisis, to 9/11. How have international relations, political events, and foreign policy influenced representations in Hollywood filmmaking? What is the impact of stereotypes? How do film representations become part of American culture? Through examining these questions, we analyze the changing landscape of race, gender, and politics in film. We also examine the counter-current of filmmaking via unusual Hollywood films, documentaries, low-budget feature films, short films, and other genres.
Intended audience: Undergraduate students with general interest in learning to analyze media, the impact of stereotypes, and the relationship between the U.S. and the Middle East. Also applying for R&E requirement.
Course Requirements: Weekly film screening and short response papers. Midterm take-home exam would ask students to select a film from a list and write about representations of Arabs and the Middle East in the film, applying some of the theories learned in class. Or it might ask them to write an essay that compares films from two different time periods that we have seen in class, analyzing how the representation has changed based on the historical and political era and drawing from the readings in class. A final exam would ask students to work on an art-as-resistance project.
Class Format: 4 credit class comprises 3 hours lecture per week, with a 1 hour discussion section with GSI support (graded component), plus weekly required film viewing.

AMCULT 343 - American Jews and Media Industries
Section 001, LEC

Instructor: Moore,Macdonald S
Credits: 3

"Jews Run Hollywood. So What?" A decade ago this double-edged headline ran on the cover of Moment, a glossy, self-described "Jewish Magazine." Controversies like this have been sustained by a stew of envy and guilt, but their sources are to be found in old employment restrictions that forced Jews to innovate outside of mainstream American industries. Well into the mid-twentieth century, major American corporations seldom hired Jews. They worked primarily in family businesses; many were employed in printing and garment trades, suppliers to industries of ideas and fashions. Jews built on niche opportunities in emergent and developing media enterprises: movies, photography, recorded music, radio, comics, and television. As these “canned” forms of entertainment became simultaneously popular and seriously prestigious, controversies flared over the roles of Jews in “the mass media.” We examine these issues by discussing a wide range of illustrative and analytical materials. Preparation for class often includes the study of movies, photos, and audio recordings.
Course Requirements: This is not final, but requirements will probably be as follows: three response papers (600-800 words each), a 5-page paper during the first half of the semester and a 10-page paper during the second half. Drafts of the 10-page paper will be required. Mid-term exam in medium-short answer format. Final exam in essay format in order to test applied, integrative knowledge of course materials and issues.
Intended Audience: Upper-class concentrators and/or other juniors and seniors.
Class Format: Lecture format three hours per week

ANTHRCUL 439 - Economic Anthropology and Development
Section 001, LEC

Instructor: Owusu,Maxwell K
Credits: 3

Contemporary Third World countries of Africa, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean are undergoing rapid and exciting social and economic transformation. This course introduces students to the practical and theoretical problems raised by the modernization of rural, village-based tribal and peasant economies and the urbanization and industrialization of local and national communities of the non-western world.
The FIRST PART of the course begins with a discussion of the making of the Third World economies with the overseas expansion of Europe and the creation of the world market and the international economic order. This is followed by a review of the nature of economic anthropology-its scope, basic concepts, methods of investigation and objectives-and how it relates to conventional/development economics.
The SECOND PART of the course examines anthropological (social science) perspectives on ‘development’ and ‘underdevelopment,’ ideas of ‘progress,’ ‘modernization,’ ‘industrialization,’ ‘human development,’ ‘sustainable development’ and the UN Millennium Development Goals.
The THIRD PART of the course focuses on specific country (cross-cultural) case studies of problems or topical issues of Third World development and underdevelopment: e.g., eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; gender equality and women’s empowerment; combating HIV/AIDS; ensuring environmental sustainability; debt relief; combating corruption; indigenous peoples; agriculture and rural development; global tourism; micro-finance; international migration; NGO’s and developing global partnership for development; global security; and globalization.
The course CONCLUDES with an overview of global challenges of Third World development and underdevelopment in post-cold war, post 9/11 environments. The course is recommended for anthropology concentrators and all students with serious interest in comparative cultures and Third World development and underdevelopment. Lecture/discussion format. Films and videos shown in class when available. Final grades based on three take-home papers and contributions to class discussion.
Basic texts: Lucy Mair, Anthropology and Development; and Polly Hill, Development Economics on Trial.
Advisory Prereq: Junior standing or permission of instructor

COMM 439 - Seminar in Journalistic Performance, Global Journalism: Press Freedom and How Journalism is Practiced Around the World
Section 001, SEM

Instructor: Warner,Fara Taye
Credits: 3

Journalism and the concepts of freedom of the press are in turmoil and under attack globally. In this course, we will look at the issues facing journalism in the United States and around the world, including the continued growth of the Internet as a disruptive information source and the demise of traditional newspapers. We will discuss the power of new types of journalism from blogging to MySpace to the power of television programs such as The Daily Show with John Stewart in the political journalism arena. We will focus on how journalism is practiced in China, Africa and the Middle East and the fight for the freedom of the press in those regions. We will discuss how the coverage of world events is shifting from a focus on politics to a focus on business, particularly in countries such as China and India. We will discuss how this shift changes our perception of these countries. One important aspect of this course will be to expose students to the global media by assigning international newspapers, magazines and broadcasts to students for discussion.

COMPLIT 372 - Literature and Identity, Home and Homelessness in Israel and Palestine
Section 001, SEM

Instructor: Tsoffar,Ruth
Credits: 3
Reqs: HU

The general objective of COMPLIT 372: Home, Homeland and Homelessness: Israel and Palestine is to explore the cultural construction of “home” in a multicultural immigrant society: how it is privileged, how it is contested, and what it means to “be home”. Exploring a wide range of literary texts, films, popular music and art, it aims to articulate the aesthetic, linguistic and thematic conceptions of home—its borders, interior, doors, and bridges—that have generated historical claims, utopian contours, conceptions of insiders and strangers, as well as other social categories such as domesticity and hospitality, and alternately, exile, homelessness, and wilderness. Can we argue that a troubled culture such as contemporary Israel can, and should, be described as undergoing a war for a national, religious, ethnic, class, or gendered “home?” In a wider anthropological discussion we will study several historical inventions of new habitats within Zionist discourse such as kibbutz, ma’abara or transitional camp, and refugee camps and draw the connections to the way they were represented within the dominant discourse. A special attention is paid to the constitutive power of literature, both oral and textual, within Israeli Jewish and Palestinian national narratives.
Maximum enrollment: 30
Grading:
    Midterm Exam = 30%
    Final Paper = 35%
    Class Participation=10%
    Class Presentation=25%

ENGLISH 280 - Thematic Approaches to Literature, Arab-American Literature
Section 002, REC

Instructor: Hassouneh,Rima Saudi

WN 2009
Credits: 3
Reqs: HU
Chicago is frequently depicted as working class, rough and tough, the 'City of the Big Shoulders' to quote Carl Sandburg's famous phrase. Other phrases come to mind when thinking about Chicago, too: 'the machine,' the Mob, racial tensions, ethnic neighborhoods, the Stockyards, the Loop and Lakefront to name a few more. Students in this class will explore what Chicago writers have written about these iconic images and other features about their city. Writers may include Theodore Dreiser, Nelson Algren, James T. Farrell, Richard Wright, Saul Bellow, Stuart Dybek, Sandra Cisneros, Sara Paretsky. We'll also be looking at some poets (Carl Sandburg and Gwendolyn Brooks), a playwright (Lorraine Hansberry), and a film or two ('the Untouchables' and, of course, 'Chicago').
The class is primarily discussion, so all students are expected to fully participate every day. Requirements include weekly reading responses, a final and a end-of-term paper or web project.

HISTORY 195 - The Writing of History, Modern Iran: Beyond the Revolution
Section 003, REC
Modern Iran: Beyond the Revolution

Instructor: Sealy,Aaron Vahid
Credits: 4
Reqs: FYWR

As the only remaining “rogue” member of President Bush’s “Axis of Evil,” Iran is often presented as the country that poses the most serious threat to America. Despite this mutual hostility, which has been felt at varying intensities since the Iranian Revolution thirty years ago, Iran remains a mystery to most Americans. This course does not address the present controversies, but instead provides the historical context through which one can better appreciate the current situation. It moves beyond the Revolution to focus on the watershed moments, leading figures, and dominant themes of Iranian modernity. It bypasses the ubiquitous invocations of the hostage crisis and “Death to America” rallies to explore instead the long and complicated history of Iran’s response to the West’s ideological and technological challenge. By the end of the course, students should have a basic familiarity with modern Iranian history and should be aware of the challenges involved in writing the history of this region.
The course assumes no prior knowledge and approaches the topic through an engaging mixture of books and articles, historical documents, films, and images. This is a writing class, so do not expect polished lectures and passive learning. Instead, there will be short overviews of each week’s topic after which most of our class time will be devoted to writing workshops, discussions, and student presentations.

HISTORY 218 - The Vietnam War, Referencing Iraq
Section 001, LEC

Instructor: Lieberman,Victor B
Credits: 4
Reqs: SS

Lasting from 1945 to 1975, the Vietnam War was the longest, most deadly conflict in post-1945 world history. It also precipitated America’s most profound political crisis since the Civil War. Vietnam’s legacy continues to haunt us: It frames the debate over American options in Iraq and still defines how we view government authority and public morality.
This course assesses the origins, strategy, and impact of America’s Vietnam venture: What were our goals? Why did America “lose”? And how, specifically, does Iraq compare to Vietnam? In short, this course analyzes Vietnam both as the most controversial foreign war in American history and as a guide to our evolving relation with the rest of the world.

HISTORY 278 - Introduction to Turkish Civilizations
Section 001, LEC

Instructor: Hagen,Gottfried J
Credits: 4
Reqs: HU
Other: WorldLit

This lecture-and-discussion course will teach the basic features of Turkish civilizations from the earliest time in the 6th century to the 20th century, from the viewpoint of cultural history. We will discuss the issue of bonds between the Turkish peoples on both the linguistic and on the cultural level. Besides an overview of the history of Turkish Empires with a special focus on the Ottoman Empire, emphasis will be placed on common cultural elements. These include tribal origins and tribal life, myths of origins as preserved in the epic literature, religious developments from "shamanism" to monotheistic religions, as well as aspects of material culture and arts.
Class Format: Regular attendance and participation in the discussions, a midterm paper and a final paper will determine success in this course.
Textbook: Carter Findley: The Turks in world history. New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.
More (mandatory) readings will be made available through a course website (tba).

HISTORY 302 - Topics in History, Islam and Armenians
Section 001, LEC

Instructor: Libaridian,Gerard J
Credits: 3

Armenia came into contact with Islam within two decades after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. A Christian nation since the 4th century, Armenians in historic Armenia have since then lived with peoples of Islamic faith as neighbors, subjects, and co-citizens. In the 16th century Armenia was divided between the Ottoman Turkish/Sunni and Safawid Persian/Shi’i empires. Three of the four neighbors of contemporary Armenia, independent since 1991 — Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey — are Muslim nations. Furthermore, important Armenian Diasporan communities have lived among predominantly Muslim peoples throughout the wider Near East and Asia, communities whose significance in numbers and impact increased following the First World War.
These continuing and deepening relations over time and space with major Muslim peoples--such as the Arab, Persian and Turkic--provide a unique window to understand both Islam and Armenia through their contacts.
The course will study
    1. the enduring and deepening religious, economic, political and cultural relations between Armenia and Armenians, on the one hand, and Islamic peoples and civilization on the other;
    2. the different institutional contexts within which these relations have flourished;
    3. the impact each has had on the other; and
    4. variations in the response each has had to the challenges of modernization and Western influence.

HISTORY 357 - Topics in African History, Islam in Africa
Section 001, SEM

Instructor: Ware,Rudolph T
Credits: 3

While census data in Africa are often inconclusive, Africa may well be the only continent in the world with a Muslim majority. Even conservative estimates suggest that more than 40% of the continent's population is Muslim. It is well known that Islam is the majority religion in Africa north of the Sahara; this part of Africa is, in the West, often detached from Africa and assimilated to the Middle East or the Arab World. It is much less well known that today Islam may be the most widely professed faith south of the desert, in what westerners have often called Black Africa, as well. Roughly 1/6th of the world’s Muslim population can be found in sub-Saharan Africa. How did this come to be? How has the adoption of Islam by Africans shaped their history? And, conversely, how have Africans shaped Islam?
The goal of this course is to begin to provide answers to these questions. We will examine African Islamic history beginning with the earliest Muslim migrants from Arabia to Ethiopia in the early 7th century CE, until the dawn of the 21st century. No prior knowledge of Islam is presumed or required, and much of the course will be dedicated to using historical methods to understand Islam as a system of religious meaning.
Covering fourteen centuries of Islamic history on the African continent could never be accomplished in an exhaustive fashion in fourteen weeks, so our approach will be to draw an outline of the historical development of Islam on the African continent, and then focus more intensively on specific regions and particular themes.
These themes include-but are not limited to:
• Intellectual, theological, and doctrinal history
• Islam and interfaith relations in Africa
• Sufism or mystical Islam
• Islamic scholarship, education, and Arabic literacy in Africa
• Women and Gender in Islamic thought and Practice
• Islamic healing and medicine in Africa
• Islamic "magic", charms, and talismans
• Race and Slavery in Islamic Africa
• The rise of modernist Islam, and
• Islamism in the 19th and 20th centuries.
BOOKS:
• David Robinson, Muslim Societies in African History
• Cheikh Hamidou Kane, Ambiguous Adventure
• Sachiko Murata & William Chittick, The Vision of Islam
• Jean Boyd & Beverly Mack, One Woman’s Jihad: Nana Asma’U Scholar and Scribe

HISTORY 443 - Modern Middle East History
Section 001, LEC

Instructor: Cole,Juan R
Credits: 4

This course examines the modern Middle East as social, economic and political history, in four phases. The first looks at the attempts of the Ottoman Empire to meet the European economic, political and military challenge from Bonaparte's invasion of Egypt through World War I. The second surveys the rise of nationalism in the Arab world, Turkey, Iran and Israel/ Palestine in the inter-war period, along with decolonization and state-led development attempts. The third considers the impact on the region of the Cold War, and the reworking of regional struggles such as the Arab-Israeli conflict in the terms of the competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. The competing economic models of socialism and capitalism as adopted in the region are assessed. The fourt looks at the Middle East in the post-1989 era of "Dual Containment" (of Iraq and Iran) and the Bush administration's wars.

HISTORY 481 - Topics in European History, Power, Peoples, Statistics: Nationalisms in the Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey
Section 001, LEC

Instructor: Dundar,Fuat
Credits: 3

In this course we will study the role of ethno-statistics in the emergence of ethnic and religious problems in the Ottoman Empire (Balkans, Transcaucasia, Middle East and Turkey). The primary subjects of analysis will be the Ottoman register, the Ottoman census and finally the Turkish Republic’s Census. We will also analyze the utilization of the ethno-statistics by the Ottoman state power, by the nationalist movements and by the Great Powers. Our main questions will be as follows: Why does the state power ‘count’ and ‘classify’? How was statistics mobilized for political and nationalist claims? How did the population numbers influence inter-social relations and the international state system? How did the Young Turks employ ethno- statistics and political demography during the Great War (deportation, conversion, assimilation and massacre)? And what was the role of census in the assimilation policy of the young Turkish Republic?
From an international state perspective, we will also examine how ethno-statistics were used by foreign diplomacy in the making of borders in the Transcaucasia and the Middle East. In this context, we will study the contemporary problem of Kirkuk and the history of its demographic politics along with the referendum to be held in May 2008. Weekly discussions will also be conducted in reference to current events in the Balkans, the Caucasia and the Middle East.
Requirements: Students will be evaluated on their classrooms participations, as well as writtens (one mid term and one final research paper).

HISTORY 698 - Topics in History, American Jews Since 1945: Politics, Religion and Culture
Section 002, REC

Instructor: Moore,Deborah Dash
Credits: 3

After World War II, American Jews emerged as the largest, most affluent, and most secure community of Jews in the world. This course explores what “The American Century” looked like from the perspective of this American minority group of five million focusing on questions of politics, religion and culture. Although each of these three themes intersected in complex ways, they also provide distinct angles of vision upon major events of the postwar decades. The course will begin with responses to the Holocaust, and move from there to anti-Communism, civil rights, Israel, protest politics, and politics of identity, ethnicity, and religion. It will examine some competing frameworks for interpreting religion and culture, including the rise of race, class and gender, and it will look at several key trials as prisms of interpretation.
Advisory Prereq: Graduate standing.

HISTORY 698 - Topics in History, Interdisciplinary Middle East Topic: Arc of Crisis
Section 004, REC

Instructor: Cole,Juan R
Credits: 3

This course will look at the political, social and contemporary history of what former National Security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski called "the Arc of Crisis"--Irag, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Their crisis was initially a Cold War phenomenon, but with the rise of radical political Islam, the conflicts have been pitched anew with a different ideological struggle. This course will look at the literature on these states, but also their relations with the U.S. and with each other.
Advisory Prereq: Graduate standing.

LING 394 - Topics in Linguistics, Language and Religion
Section 001, LEC

Instructor: Pires,Acrisio M
Credits: 3

If we define religion as a system of belief in and worship of some force or power higher than humankind, whether it be the one God of the Judeo-Christian and Moslem traditions, or the multiple deities of many ancient (and some contemporary) belief systems it seems safe to say that all cultures and societies practice some form of religion. Religious practices involve some form of oral communication with the superior power(s), which requires the use of language, the only tool available to humans to communicate (directly or indirectly) with the divine and to share the chosen beliefs with others. This course will examine how religions make use of language to meet their spiritual and non-spiritual goals, and how various facets of language are influenced by their use as the linguistic medium of religion. Topics to be examined and discussed include legends on the divine origin of human languages (and writing systems), references to language and speech acts in sacred texts, the nature and use of sacred and liturgical languages, the development of the religious vocabulary of a language, the problems involved in the translation and transmission of sacred texts, and the linguistic nature of prayer. Although this course will seek to examine these issues with reference to a large number of religions, emphasis will be placed on the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions.
Students will write two exams and a research paper on a topic (chosen in consultation with the instructor) relevant to the course topic. In addition, each student will make a brief oral presentation based on his/her paper topic. Readings will be provided in a coursepack.
Advisory Prereq: LING 111 or 210

LING 433 - Arabic Syntax and Semantics
Section 001, LEC

Instructor: McCarus,Ernest N
Credits: 3

In this course we will look closely at the structure and semantics of Modern Standard Arabic. There will be focus on form and meaning. Students will be trained to analyze extended chunks of text, as opposed to individual sentences. The course will be conducted in English, but it is advisable that students should have at least two years of Arabic. Course grade is based on assignments, quizzes and exams. References will also be made to the traditional Arab grammarians' analysis of Arabic.
Advisory Prereq: AAPTIS 202 or 205 and AAPTIS 432.

POLSCI 389 - Topics in Contemporary Political Science
Section 009, REC

RELIGION 204 - Introduction to Islam
Section 001, LEC

Instructor: Knysh,Alexander D
Credits: 4
Reqs: HU
Other: WorldLit

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to Islam as a religious tradition. After examining the fundamental sources of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and the reports about the activities and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, we will discuss how these foundations gave rise to the beliefs and practices of Muslims and to an Islamic civilization with spectacular achievements in such areas as law, theology, science, philosophy, and mysticism. Our emphasis will be on the first thousand years of Islam, but modern and recent developments will be covered as well. Quizzes, a midterm, and a final exam.

RELIGION 471 - Seminar: Topics in the Study of Judaism
Section 001, SEM

Instructor: Ginsburg,Elliot K; homepage
Credits: 3
Reqs: ULWR

Topics within history of Judaism such as reform and tradition in modern Judaism, theological responses to the Holocaust, the Sabbath and sacred time, Hasidism, and the emotions and senses in Judaism.

SOC 410 - The American Jewish Community
Section 001, SEM

Instructor: Schoem,David
Credits: 3

This course will examine the lively tension between tradition and change within the American Jewish Community as it reviews current issues and explores broadly the sociological literature on American Jewry. Students will first look at the broader context of American society, including issues of democratic values, religious freedom, and social stratification. The class will then examine the conflicts and struggles of American Jews as they strive to maintain themselves in a pluralistic society. In doing so, they will explore topics such as Jewish identity, intergroup and intragroup relations, group survival, relations with Israel and new understandings of diaspora, and community structure and organization. The course will be conducted seminar style with an expectation of active student participation, including discussions and presentations, as well as research and reflection papers.
Advisory Prereq: One introductory course in Sociology.

SOC 490 - Women and Islam: A Sociological Perspective
Section 001, SEM

Instructor: Gocek,Fatma Muge
Credits: 3

This course explores the theoretical and methodological issues involved in studying women. The course starts with an introduction to the existing paradigms on women's position in sociology, women's studies, and Near Eastern Studies. After a lecture on the position of women in Islamic history, it proceeds to study women in contemporary contexts such as in Iran and Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and the Fertile Crescent, North Africa, Central Asia and the Balkans, and contemporary U.S. society.

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