2021-2022

The course concentrates on the written language and aims at enabling students to use Modern Hebrew for research purposes. The course is designed to enable students to read Hebrew freely. Major grammatical & syntactical aspects will be covered, and students will acquire substantial vocabulary with attention paid to lexical collocations and semantic fields. By the end of the course, students are expected not only to be able to successfully satisfy their departmental language requirements but also to have a great set of skills that would allow them to read any given text, written in Modern Hebrew. (The tern “Modern Hebrew” covers primarily literature from the mid 20th century to current time).

This course is specifically aimed at students having completed the first year of Elementary Akkadian (AKKD 10101–10103), but can be taken by more advanced students as well. Building on the knowledge acquired in the Elementary sequence, this course will explore the Standard Babylonian dialect and the Neo-Assyrian cuneiform script, through a detailed analysis of the Annals of king Sennacherib (704–681 BCE) as they are represented in the ‘Chicago Prism' acquired by J. H. Breasted in 1920 and currently on display in the Assyrian gallery of the Oriental Institute Museum. These include, among other military and building exploits of the king, his campaign to the Levant against Ezekiah, king of Judah — an episode also recounted in the Hebrew Bible (books of Second Kings, Isaiah and Chronicles), Herodotus' Histories and Josephus' Judean Antiquities.

The story of Abraham’s (near) sacrifice of his son, Isaac, found in Genesis 22:1-19, is one of the most influential and enduring stories in Western literature and art. It is part of the living tradition of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and its meaning and implications have been repeatedly explored in the communities defined by these religions, and has, in turn, helped to shape the self-perception of those communities. This course will consider the multiple perspectives from which this story has been viewed and the multiple interpretations which this story has generated, starting with its earliest incorporation into the Hebrew Bible, moving to its role in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and concluding with its influence on modern works. No knowledge of Hebrew is required.

This course explores the intellectual history of the Islamic world from the coming of Islam in the seventh century CE through the development and spread of its civilization in the middle of the tenth. (It is followed in the Winter and Spring quarters by Islamic Thought and Literature II & III). The course covers the historical events of the period in question, the emergence of Islam, and the life of Muhammad, and then moves on to explore Islamic thought and literature: scripture, theology, law, mysticism, philosophy, poetry, and belletrist prose. In addition to lectures and secondary background readings, students read and discuss samples of key primary texts, with a view to exploring Islamic civilization in the direct voices of the people who participated in its creation. All readings are provided in English translation. No prior background in the subject is required.

This course introduces the students to difficult Ottoman narratives from different periods. Please be in touch with the instructor if you are not sure of your level.

The Ottomans ruled in Anatolia, the Middle East, South East Europe and North Africa for over six hundred years. The objective of this course is to understand the society and culture of this bygone Empire whose legacy continues, in one way or another, in some twenty-five contemporary successor states from the Balkans to the Arabian Peninsula. The course is designed as an introduction to the Ottoman World with a focus on the cultural history of the Ottoman society. It explores identities and mentalities, customs and rituals, status of minorities, mystical orders and religious establishments, literacy and the use of the public sphere.

Radical Islamic Pieties 1200-1600

Readings in Advanced Ottoman Historical Texts

Seminar, Historical exploration of genesis and consolidation of Ottoman state, empire, 1300-1600

This course covers the period from ca. 1750-1990, surveying works of literature, theology, philosophy, politics, history, etc., originally written in Arabic, Persian and Turkish, with specific emphasis at reform and modernization efforts and response to the same.