Winter

The purpose of this three-quarter sequence is to enable the student to read Syriac literature with a high degree of comprehension. The course is divided into two segments. The first two quarters are devoted to acquiring the essentials of Syriac grammar and vocabulary. The third quarter is spent reading a variety of Syriac prose and poetic texts and includes a review of grammar.

Advanced Readings in Arabic

This is a three-segment course offered in three quarters; Autumn, Winter and Spring. The main objective of the complete three segment is to develop strong pedagogical strategies in the four Arabic language skills to acquire proficiency in handling Arabic classical texts. By the end of the three quarters students should  know the distinctive features of classical Arabic texts and the various genres and sources of such texts. They will build strong command on expanded grammatical features and structural rules governing classical texts of different variations. Students will be able to produce written documents reflecting reading comprehension, personal opinions and text critique. Students should be able to make oral presentation and conduct research using electronic resources as well as traditional classical sources. The class is conducted entirely in Arabic with occasional use of English in translation and explanation of complex cultural and linguistic issues.

This is a course for the rising advanced student of Arabic who wants to improve their facility with oral argumentation on issues of public and academic interest. Students will read, listen to, and write arguments for or against a point of view. Students will engage in mini debates every week, culminating in a team debate at the end of the quarter.

In this intermediate Arabic course, we will work through the second half of Al-Kitaab Part 2. As in any language course, we address all four of the fundamental skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. A particular focus of this sequence, however, is ensuring that students have a solid, comprehensive understanding of the rules of Arabic syntax. In addition to readings and exercises from the textbook, we will increasingly make use of articles from Arabic-language news media.

This sequence concentrates on the acquisition of speaking, reading, and aural skills in modern formal Arabic.

We will read a choice of legal and administrative texts from the Kassite period (1400-1150 BC), including contracts, tables, receipts and letters. You will get an introduction to the Middle Babylonian dialect of Akkadian and learn how to approach those genres. We will also read unpublished material from photos, casts, and original tablets.

This course is the second quarter of the annual introductory sequence to the Babylonian language and the Cuneiform script. Students will further explore the grammar of Babylonian in its Old Babylonian dialect (19th-16th c. BCE) and read ancient inscriptions (especially the Laws of Hammu-rabi) in the Old Babylonian monumental script. They will also be introduced to the Old Babylonian cursive used in letters and the documents of everyday life.

This course offers an overview of the art/visual culture from the period of the Hittite Kingdom (1650-1200 BC). We will explore all materials (stone, metal, ceramics, etc.), problems of dating, iconography and its possible developments, questions of audience.

This course explores the ways linguistic theory can be used in the study of extinct languages. We will investigate how to use typological data and the predictive force of modern theories to critically assess claims regarding grammatical issues in extinct languages. We will also start developing a method for fact-finding in extinct languages. The course will focus on topics that are relevant for several extinct languages of the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern area, covering many extinct languages, such as the (near)-isolates Sumerian, Elamite, or Hurrian, the Semitic languages (e.g., Akkadian, Phoenician, Ugaritic), the Indo-European languages (e.g., Latin, Greek, Hittite), and ancient Egyptian. Examples of such topics are (split)-ergativity, Topic and Focus (information structure), and lexical and grammatical aspect.