Undergraduate

This course compares the picture of ancient Israel and its history that is presented in the Bible to the results obtained from archaeological excavations and surveys, seen in the light of modern historical-critical analysis of the Hebrew Bible and the study of ancient non-biblical inscriptions. The focus will be on the biblical narratives from the books of Genesis through Kings concerning the Creation and Flood, the ancestors of the Israelites (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), Moses and the Exodus, the conquest of Canaan under Joshua, the “pre-monarchical” period of the Judges, and the actions of the rulers and prophets of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah until the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. Subsequent developments until the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 CE will be covered more briefly. No prior background in archaeology or biblical studies is required, although it will be useful for students to have previously taken BIBL 31000, “Introduction to the Hebrew Bible.”

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.

The second quarter of a two-section course in which Elementary Kazakh and Elementary Uzbek will be offered as one class, with the option for students to study one or the other, or both simultaneously.

Elementary Turkish (First Year)

This course covers Elementary Sumerian.

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 sequence concentrates on all skills of language acquisition (reading, writing, listening, and speaking). The class begins with the Persian alphabet, and moves to words, phrases, short sentences, and finally short paragraphs. The goal is to enable the students towards the end of the sequence to read, understand, and translate simple texts in modern standard Persian and engage in short everyday conversations. All the basic grammatical structures are covered in this sequence. Introducing the Iranian culture through the texts is also a goal. The 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 will examine a variety of important themes in late Ottoman history such as institutional reform, family reform, the development of consultative structures, taxation, capitulations, and nationalism.

The American Muslim community hails from all corners of the globe, and represents a diverse mix of ethnic groups, socio-economic backgrounds, political persuasions, and theological positions. American Islam is older than the nation itself, and Muslims have contributed to the American project throughout its history. Today, the United States represents one unique node in a complex, global Muslim world, with deep and active relationships connecting the United States to the historic centers of Muslim life. Conspicuously religious Muslims also occupy greater positions of power and visibility across American society, from the halls of Congress to the comedy club stage. This course will provide a historically-informed, globally-inflected exploration of contemporary American Islam. Students will engage primary texts of American Muslim life and consider them within social, cultural, and historical context.

This course examines the widely held view that changes in Ottoman commerce precipitated a decisive shift in the nature of the Ottoman state during the nineteenth century. Many narratives highlight the incorporation of Ottoman lands into the capitalist world-economy, government-led liberal economic reforms, the political ascent of merchants and bankers tied to foreign capital, and even an “imperialism of free trade.” Taking the Ottomans as its case study, the course invites broader reflection on the relationship between commerce and politics in the modern world. How and when does trade acquire political significance? Which forms of commercial activity and which regions are emphasized—or overlooked—in economic histories? When and what kinds of markets and merchants become identified with capitalism? Focusing mainly on the nineteenth century, we will explore these questions by bringing together four classic works on Ottoman trade and four recent studies that offer new perspectives on commerce and state in the Empire. With renewed attention to political economy and capitalism in Ottoman and Middle East studies, the course equips students to think across classic and recent literatures on these themes.