Winter

Taking debate as its central fulcrum, the course will develop all 4 language skills. Its language goals are served through preparing students to debate a number of issues of public interest. Why “debate”? a) Because debating, arguing, making claims, supporting claims with evidence, are all authentic activities that we all practice on a daily basis; debating is a relevant real-life skill; b) Because the debate process pulls practitioners into all 4 language skills: debaters must read on the proposition topic, they must prepare their arguments in writing, they must clearly speak to an audience, and they must listen carefully to their team mates and to the arguments of the opposing team. In the process, they will be immersed in Arab culture (targeted expressions and historical references, of-the-moment issues, etc.) Course Objectives a) Expanding student vocabulary and structures into the abstract, analytic realm, i.e., placing them solidly in the advanced ACTFL levels (see the descriptions of the ACTFL standards and levels here: https://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/public/ACTFLProficiencyG… b) Improving student speech techniques: pronunciation, intonation/voice modulation, pausing, emphasis, gesturing, visual communication; c) Improving listening and writing skills and expanding them to include topics of general and academic interest; d) Through a thoughtful selection of debate propositions, exposing students to some salient social, cultural, and political themes of importance to the Arab public. e) Sharpening the logical argumentative skills of students.

This course introduces the main paradigms of social thought and their philosophical basis and examines their impact on archaeology and historical studies. Theoretical views, whether acknowledged or merely implicit, strongly affect scholarly interpretations of empirical data. The data do not speak for themselves but are interpreted quite differently depending on the theoretical paradigm at work in the interpretation. In this course, we will focus on the ways in which various social theories have shaped scholarly views of social and economic life in the ancient Near East, in particular.

The course focuses on the improvement of speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in modern formal and spoken Armenian. The course covers a rich vocabulary in modern formal and colloquial Armenian, and the most complex grammatical structures and frames. The main objective is literary fluency. Reading assignments include a variety of texts (literary works, newspaper articles, etc.). Students practice the vocabulary (newly acquired in their readings) through discussions and critical analysis of texts in Armenian. There are also enhanced writing assignments: essays on given topics, writing blogs or wiki pages, etc. The goal is to achieve an advanced 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, or to pursue work in Armenia.

We will first read a selection of royal inscriptions mainly from the 1st Dynasty of Lagash. Then we read selected excerpts of the earliest literary texts. The goal of the class is to familiarize students with the sign forms, orthography, and grammatical particularities of Old Sumerian.

An introduction to the language, texts and historical and cultural context of the 8th-9th Century Turkic inscriptions.

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.

1st Year Turkish 2nd quarter

Afghanistan is the quintessential “crossroads of cultures” where the civilizations of the Near East, Central Asia, South Asia and China interacted over the millennia in a constantly shifting mixture of trade, emulation, migration, imperial formations, and periodic conflict. This complex history of contacts gave rise to some of the most important archaeological, artistic, architectural, and textual treasures in world cultural heritage – encompassing cultures as diverse as the Bronze Age cities of Bactria, the Persian Empire, the easternmost colonies founded by Alexander the Great and his Hellenistic successors, the Kushan empire astride the Silk Road, and the monumental Buddhas of Bamiyan. Although the first excavations began in the 1920’s, there has been only limited fieldwork in Afghanistan, and even this was truncated by the Soviet invasion in 1979 and the subsequent 40 years of continuous conflict in that country. This course presents an introduction to the archaeology of Afghanistan from the Neolithic through the Medieval Islamic periods, focusing on sites in Afghanistan and the region’s cultural linkages to neighboring areas such as Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia. The final portion of the course will discuss the threats to Afghan cultural heritage, and current effort to preserve this patrimony. The course is intended for both graduate and undergraduate students, ideally for those who have had at least one introductory course in archaeology, but it is open to all.

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).

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.