Autumn

This course explores the archaeology of the states and empires of Mesopotamia during the early 2nd through mid-1st millennia BC. We begin with the Old Babylonian and Old Assyrian territorial states and end with the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian empire and the takeover of the Neo-Babylonian empire by the Persians in the mid 1st millennium BC, which marks the end of “Mesopotamian” culture. During these centuries, the region saw many political changes, developing from a network of expansive territorial states to massive hegemonic empires. But political developments also included retraction of states and two large-scale political collapses, in part driven by climate change. These millennia in Mesopotamia are also marked by internationalism in both archaeology and politics; trade, elite communication and conquest all affected the material culture of the sub-regions of the ancient Near East. Additional topics include the archaeological evidence (or lack of it) for ethnic groups known from textual sources, symbolism and hybridization in artworks, organic versus artificial settlements and landscapes, and the archaeological signatures of empire. The geographic focus encompasses northern and southern Mesopotamia (approximately the modern countries of Iraq and Syria); reference will also be made to southeast Anatolia (Türkiye) and the eastern Mediterranean.

Archaeology is the study of the material evidence of past human activity. This course, which is offered every year in the Autumn Quarter, explores the history of archaeology as a discipline and the methods used by archaeologists to obtain evidence about past human activity via excavations, surface surveys, and remote-sensing technologies such as satellite imagery and ground-penetrating radar, with emphasis on archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East. This course also surveys the latest methods used to date, classify, and analyze various kinds of evidence after it has been obtained. And since archaeological data is always collected and interpreted within an intellectual framework of theoretical conceptions concerning human society, culture, and history, this course provides a brief overview of “archaeological theory,” i.e., the uses made by archaeologists of a wide range of different social theories that may lead to quite different interpretations of the same data. This topic is explored in more depth in a companion course on “Social Theory and Ancient Studies” (NEHC 20010/30010), which is offered in alternate years in the Winter Quarter.

This is a two-course sequence that introduces students to theory and method in landscape studies and the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to analyze archaeological, anthropological, historical, and environmental data.

This course examines the lexical, phonological, and morphological traits shared by the members of the Semitic language family. We also explore the historical relationships among these languages and the possibility of reconstructing features of the parent speech community.

This sequence deepens and expands the students' knowledge of modern Persian. The goal is to enable the students to gain proficiency in all skills of language acquisition at a higher level. In this sequence, the students learn more complex grammatical structures and gain wider vocabulary through reading paragraph-length texts on a variety of topics related to Persian language, literature, and culture. Students will also be familiarized with Persian news and media terminology. Class meets four hours a week with the instructor and one hour with a native informant who conducts grammatical drills and Persian conversation.

This course is designed for complete beginners and teaches students to pronounce, read and write standard Persian, as well as some Iranian colloquial dialect. It includes an introduction to the alphabet, pronunciation patterns, greetings, basic structures, and other fundamentals. Students who have exposure to other Middle Eastern or South Asian languages, but have not formally studied Persian before, should enroll in this course. By the end of the course, students will be able to communicate in Persian at a Novice-Mid level according to the ACTFL National Standards. They should be able to read and compose basic texts in formal Persian relating to themselves and their everyday lives, and handle basic ‘survival’ scenarios that have been covered in class

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.

A selection of Turkish printed texts in Arabic script from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is introduced in order of difficulty. Hakan Karateke's unpublished "Ottoman Reader" serves as a text book. The texts are drawn from historical textbooks, official documents, novels, and other genres.

Advanced Turkish students will develop their language skills in speaking, reading, translating, listening, and writing, while learning about Turkish society and culture at the same time. To address all of these aspects each class is divided into three sections which focuses on a specific skill.

This sequence features proficiency-based instruction emphasizing speaking and writing skills as well as reading and listening comprehension at the intermediate to advanced levels in modern Turkish. Modern short stories, novel excerpts, academic and journalistic articles form the basis for an introduction to modern Turkish literature. Cultural units consisting of films and web-based materials are also used extensively in this course, which is designed to bring the intermediate speaker to an advanced level of proficiency. Prerequisite(s): TURK 10103, or equivalent with intermediate level proficiency test.