Current Courses
The staff at the Crown Center teach innovative courses at Brandeis University to advance the students' knowledge of the region.
The staff at the Crown Center teach innovative courses at Brandeis University to advance the students' knowledge of the region.
Monday and Wednesday, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Prof. Pascal Menoret
This course examines how humans interact with the world around them. The course covers the main theories of the relationship between ecology and society, and explores issues related to the environment and agriculture in the Middle East, with a focus on the Arabian Peninsula.
Monday and Wednesday, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Prof. Muna Güvenç Ospina Leon
Through case studies of cities, sites, and monuments, this course presents an overview of the art and the architecture of the Islamic world beginning from the seventh century up to the present. Some of the themes include, but are not limited to, Islamic material culture, orientalist imaginations, systems of governance and the colonial present, search for the local identity, urban modernity and nationalism, and globalization.
Tuesday and Thursday, 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Prof. Naghmeh Sohrabi
This course is an examination of the roots of the Iranian revolution of 1979, the formation of the Islamic Republic, and its evolution over the past 30 years.
Tuesday and Thursday, 10:00 a.m.-11:30 p.m.
Prof. Amy Singer
This course examines the Ottomans in history: how did a tiny principality grow from 1300 to be a global empire by 1550 and become a modern nation state by 1923? Who were the Ottomans? What are their legacies in today's world?
Thursday, 4:00-7:00 p.m.
Prof. Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi
Surveys the political underpinnings of Middle Eastern art in the 20th century and the socio-political conditions that shaped cultural production in the region. We will explore how art was used as a tool of soft power, and how artists challenged authority through subversive movements and practices. The class will address an often neglected dimension of the modern history of North Africa and West Asia.
Special one-time offering, fall 2021.
Tuesday and Thursday, 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Prof. Michal Ben-Josef Hirsch
This course provides students with historical and analytic mastery of the Arab-Israeli conflict in a novel way. Through immersion in three competing narratives—Israeli, Palestinian, and pan-Arab—students will gain proficiency in the history of the conflict as well as analytic leverage on the possibility of its resolution. The course is organized as a seminar and is premised on active student participation.