Autumn

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

Who are the Armenians and where do they come from? What is the cultural contribution of Armenians to their neighbors and overall world heritage? This crash-course will try to answer these and many other similar questions while surveying Armenian history and elements of culture (mythology, religion, manuscript illumination, art, architecture, etc.). It also will discuss transformations of Armenian identity and symbols of 'Armenianness' through time, based on such elements of national identity as language, religion, art, or shared history. Due to the greatest artistic quality and the transcultural nature of its monuments and artifacts, Armenia has much to offer in the field of Art History, especially when we think about global transculturation and appropriation among cultures as a result of peoples' movements and contacts. The course is recommended for students with interest in Armenian Studies or related fields, in Area or Civilizations Studies, Art and Cultural Studies, etc.

The course is aiming to enable students to reach a reasonable level of proficiency in the Armenian language. The curriculum is heavily based on real life situations. Each class session includes a healthy balance of real-life like conversations (shopping, placing an order in a restaurant, asking directions, talking with natives, getting around in the city, banking, etc.), readings (dialogues, jokes, stories, news, etc.) and writings (essays on selected topics, filling forms, etc.). The students can also communicate in Armenian well beyond basic needs about the daily life and obtain some level of fluency in their professional interests. This sequence covers a wider-range vocabulary and more complex grammatical structures in modern formal and colloquial Armenian. Reading assignments also include a selection of simple original Armenian literature. A considerable amount of historical-political and social-cultural issues about Armenia are skillfully built into the course for students who have intention to conduct research in Armenian Studies or related fields, or to pursue work in Armenia.

This three-quarter sequence focuses on the acquisition of basic speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in modern formal and spoken Armenian. The course utilizes the most advanced computer technology and audio-visual aids enabling students to master the alphabet, a core vocabulary, and some basic grammatical structures in order to communicate their basic survivor's needs in Armenian, understand simple texts and to achieve a minimal level of proficiency in modern formal and spoken Armenian. A considerable amount of historical-political and social-cultural issues about Armenia are skillfully built into the course for students who have intention to conduct research in Armenian Studies or related fields, to visit or to pursue work in Armenia. A language competency exam is offered at the end of spring quarter for those taking this course as college language requirement.

This course, which builds upon Intermediate Modern Hebrew (second year HEB) assumes that students have full mastery of the grammatical and lexical content of the intermediate level. The focus of instruction is on further development of intermediate language skills in Modern Israeli Hebrew with special emphasis on oral and written communication. At the end of the course, all students are expected to reach the intermediate-high level of proficiency, as defined by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) in speaking, reading, and listening comprehension. The acquisition of cultural literacy will be an integral part of the curriculum throughout the semester.

The course, which builds upon Introductory Modern Hebrew (first year HEB) focuses on the acquisition of proficiency and communicative skills in Modern Hebrew. The purpose of this class is to expand and strengthen beginners' Hebrew skills so that they become more self-assured, communicative, and versatile when they listen to, read, speak, and write Hebrew. It emphasizes both communicative and cultural themes and focuses on developing a rich and active vocabulary in several language domains.

The beginner’s course is the first of three sequential courses offered to students at the university. The course aims to introduce students to reading, writing and speaking Modern Hebrew. Toward that end all four-language skills are emphasized: comprehension of written and oral materials; reading of non-diacritical text; writing of directed sentences, paragraphs, and compositions; speaking. You will learn the Hebrew root pattern system, and by the end of the year you will have mastered the five (active) basic verb conjugations in both the past and present tenses (as well as simple future). This grammatical knowledge is complemented by an 800+ word vocabulary, which is presented with an eye toward the major syntactic structures, including the proper use of prepositions. At the end of the year, you will conduct short conversations in Hebrew; read materials designed to this level and write short compositions.

This course gives an overview of the richness of Mesopotamian Literature (modern Iraq) written in the 3rd-1st millennium BC. We will read myths and epics written on clay tablets in the Sumerian and Akkadian language in English translation and discuss content and style, but also the religious, cultural and historic implications. Particular focus will be on the development of stories over time, the historical context of the literature and mythological figures. The texts treated cover not only the famous Epic of Gilgamesh, but also various legends of Sumerian and Akkadian kings, stories about Creation and World Order, and destruction. The topics covered range from the quest for immortality, epic heroes and monsters, sexuality and love.

Introduction to the grammar of Akkadian, specifically to the Old Babylonian dialect. The class covers the first half of the Old Babylonian grammar, an introduction to the cuneiform script, and easy translation exercises.

Pre-Islamic poetry laid the foundation for all subsequent Arabic poetry, and formed a key referent for Arabic grammar and Qurʾān exegesis. Its structure, motifs, and images constituted a literary model for Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid, Andalusian, and Mamluk poetry, and its grammatical and lexical usages formed a tool to understand the Qurʾānic message and to measure the purity of later Arabic expressions. In this class, we will read closely some of the best known poems of the pre-Islamic period. An assessment by the medieval critics of our poets and some of their poetic theory will also be introduced. Secondary literature will be assigned in order to provide a theoretical framework for the material.