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2006– 2007 Core Curriculum Courses taught by faculty in the
Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations

[Foreign Cultures 56. Jewish Life in Eastern Europe]
Catalog Number: 1271
Jay M. Harris
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
An examination of the variegated cultural achievements of Eastern European Jewish society, including its religious and ethical worldviews, its educational institutions, its literature, its politics. Primary focus on the 19th century, the development and continuity of traditional life, and the confrontation between traditional and newer cultural patterns.
Note: Expected to be given in 2007–08.

Foreign Cultures 70. Understanding Islam and Contemporary Muslim Societies
Catalog Number: 1065
Ali S. Asani
Half course (fall term). M., W., F., at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 3
Offers an introductory survey of the fundamental concepts of the Islamic faith and devotional practices of Muslim societies around the world. Focuses on developing an understanding of the diversity of Muslim religious worldviews and the manner in which they have been shaped by the political, social and cultural contexts in which Muslims live in various parts of the world, particularly in the modern period. Briefly considers the contemporary situation of Muslims as a religious and racial minority in Europe and the US.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2007–08.

Foreign Cultures 82. Modern Arabic Narratives: Self, Society, and Culture
Catalog Number: 2619
William E. Granara
Half course (spring term). M., W., at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 5
A historical overview of cultural and social issues in contemporary Arab society as reflected in modern fiction. Attention will be given to the development of the novel and short story as literary media that treat themes such as the conflict between tradition and modernity, anti-colonialism, nationalism, civil war, poverty, alienation, religion and politics, and changing gender roles. Readings will include works of Tayeb Salih, Naguib Mahfouz, Muhammad Choukri, as well as prominent women authors, such as Hanan Shaykh and Sahar Khalifeh.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2007–08. No knowledge of Arabic required.

[Foreign Cultures 90. Tel Aviv: Urban Culture in Another Zion]
Catalog Number: 0199
Avi Matalon
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 5
How to read a city? Tel Aviv was founded under the concept of the “first Hebrew city” and rapidly became the cultural, economic, and political center of Jewish settlement in Palestine. Over the past century it has become a metropolis and the cultural and economic hub of the State of Israel. This course will trace Tel Aviv's historical development and its cultural representation using history, literature, film, urban planning, photography, art, and music.
Note: Expected to be given in 2007–08.

[Historical Study A-40. The Middle East and Europe since the Crusades: Relations and Perceptions]
Catalog Number: 5423
Cemal Kafadar
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 5
Nine centuries of interaction between two neighboring world civilizations centered around the Mediterranean basin. Examines the transformation of the terms of coexistence and competition over time from an asymmetry in favor of the Islamic world to one favoring Europe in terms of power and prestige. Surveys major events and broad patterns of human activity (wars, migrations, conversions, trade, cultural exchange); compares institutions and worldviews; studies the ways in which the two civilizations perceived and imagined each other. Focus on common roots and mutual influences. Analysis of (mis)perceptions as historically constructed cultural categories and of their legacy in the modern world.
Note: Expected to be given in 2007–08.

Historical Study A-44. Jews in Modern Times: From the French Revolution to the Emergence of Israel
Catalog Number: 9323
Jay M. Harris
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 5
This course seeks to understand the transformation of the Jews from a relatively homogeneous group that was readily distinguished from its surrounding cultures, to their current state in which they are neither homogeneous nor readily distinguished from other identifiable groups. The focus will be on the political, social, and economic shifts that led to major changes in Jewish political and cultural aspirations and achievements. Specifically, the course will examine processes of change in France, Germany, Russia, and the US.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2007–08.

Historical Study A-67. Gendered Communities: Women, Islam, and Nationalism in the Middle East and North Africa
Catalog Number: 0352
Afsaneh Najmabadi
Half course (spring term). M., W., 1:30–3, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 6, 7
This course will focus on how concepts of woman and gender have defined meanings of religious and national communities in the Islamic Middle East and North Africa. It will survey changes in these concepts historically through reading a variety of sources—religious texts and commentaries, literary and political writings, books of advice, women's writings, and films—and will look at how contemporary thinkers and activists ground themselves differently in this historical heritage to constitute contesting positions regarding gender and national politics today.

[Literature and Arts A-48. Modern Jewish Literature]
Catalog Number: 1250
Ruth R. Wisse
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 14
Studies works in different languages and genres that variously interpret the experience of Jews in the 20th century. Explores such issues as what information literature can provide, the relation of language and historical context to artistic strategy, and personal and national perspectives in narrative. Authors include Sholem Aleichem, Franz Kafka, Isaac Babel, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Primo Levi, and Saul Bellow.
Note: Expected to be given in 2007–08.

Literature and Arts A-53. “Athens and Jerusalem”: Self and Other in Classical Greek and Hebrew Literature
Catalog Number: 8681
Peter Machinist and Bennett Simon (Medical School)
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 5
Examines the representation of “self” and “other” in two literatures foundational to Western culture, Classical Greek and Biblical Hebrew. The premise is the necessity of an “other” in order to define the “self.” Starts with “Athens” and “Jerusalem” as emblematic of the self/other polarity that the West drew out of these literatures. Then explores in them other manifestations of self and other: group identity and group origins, woman and deity as other, the development of heroic selfhood, and the emergence of self-knowledge. Emphasizes throughout how poetic and narrative forms both shape and are shaped by visions of self and other.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2007–08.

[Literature and Arts A-70. The Book of Job and the Joban Tradition]
Catalog Number: 7991
Peter Machinist
Half course (fall term). M., W., at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 5
An examination of the biblical book of Job along with related texts, ancient, medieval, and modern, that allow us to establish the literary and philosophical traditions in which Job was composed and the literary and philosophical legacy it has left. Particular focus on the ways the texts play off one another in literary form and expression and in their treatment of such themes as divine justice, human piety, and the nature of the divine-human encounter.
Note: Expected to be given in 2008–09.

[Literature and Arts B-35. The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent: Art, Architecture, and Ceremonial at the Ottoman Court]
Catalog Number: 1678
Gülru Necipoglu-Kafadar
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 14
“Golden Age” of Ottoman-Islamic visual culture in the 16th century, considered within its ceremonial and historical contexts, focusing on architecture, miniature painting, and decorative arts. Stresses the transformation of Byzantine Constantinople into Ottoman Istanbul, formation of an imperial architectural style, and artistic contacts with contemporary European and Islamic courts. Considers art and architecture of Safavid Iran and Mughal India as a comparative backdrop. Discusses the role of centralized court ateliers in propagating canons of taste, the emphasis on decorative arts in a culture that rejected monumental sculpture and painting, and representations of the East by European artists in the Orientalist mode.
Note: Expected to be given in 2007–08.

Literature and Arts C-70. From the Hebrew Bible to Judaism, From the Old Testament to Christianity
Catalog Number: 5275
Shaye J.D. Cohen
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 3
The Hebrew Scriptures, what Christians call the “Old Testament” and Jews call the “Bible,” are the basis of both Judaism and Christianity. In this course we shall survey how this work of literature, through interpretation and re-interpretation, spawned two different cultural systems. Topics to be surveyed include: canon and prophecy; exegesis and Midrash; Shabbat and Sunday; temple, synagogue, church; the Oral Torah and the Logos; sin and righteousness; messiah and redemption.

[Moral Reasoning 54. “If There is No God, All is Permitted”: Theism and Moral Reasoning]
Catalog Number: 1321
Jay M. Harris
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 5
This course will examine the ways in which a concept of God has informed Western moral discourse trying to help students engage the literature as they consider why one might think “if there is no God, all is permitted” and why one might think if there is a God, human moral achievement is impossible.
Note: Expected to be given in 2007–08.

Social Analysis 74. Visible Language: Writing Systems, Scripts, and Literacy
Catalog Number: 3835
John Huehnergard
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13
Cn u rd ths? Why? How is it possible to record speech and thoughts in visible form, and to understand what others have recorded? Writing may be the most important human invention, yet it has been invented only a handful of times. We will investigate how writing represents speech and thought in visual form, origins of writing five millennia ago, types of writing (pictographic, syllabic, alphabetic), decipherment, the cultural impact of literacy. We will consider scripts such as Mesopotamian cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Chinese, Mayan glyphs, Japanese, Korean, recently-invented scripts, and alphabets, including our own, that arose from Semitic consonant systems.