Course listing subject to change. Please see Workday for most current information. For help navigating, visit the Registration in Workday webpage. For registration dates, visit the Office of the University Registrar's Registration for Spring 2026 webpage.
Yuval Evri & Muna Güvenç – Near Eastern and Judaic Studies & Fine Arts
M,W 4:05 PM–5:25 PM
Offers an integrated exploration of Middle Eastern literature, urbanism, and architecture. It delves into the vibrant urban heritage of the Middle East, spanning from ancient metropolises like Cairo, Damascus, Istanbul, Jerusalem, and Baghdad. By engaging in a comprehensive examination of Middle Eastern cities, students will acquire profound insights into the region's multifaceted histories, including the impacts of colonialism, imperialism, nation-state formation, and the dynamics within our increasingly globalized world. Usually offered every second year.
Reuven Kimelman – Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
T,Th 7:05 PM–8:25 PM
Invites the student to reflect on the issues of antisemitism, and to ask: To what degree is it sui generis? To what degree is it explicable by reference to other ethnic or religious hatreds? The approach will be both historical and thematic. It will start with the Greco-Roman world and then deal with its manifestations in the Christian and Muslim orbit. It will then consider its modern manifestations in Naziism and Communism. Finally, it will focus on its Israel-centered manifestations. The ongoing question is how to account for most of its various manifestations: religion, economics, sociology, psychology, politics, or something other. Usually offered every third year.
Yuval Evri – Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
M,W 2:30 PM–3:50 PM
Explores the hidden history and cultural politics of espionage, treason, and propaganda in the modern Middle East, focusing on Israel/Palestine. Examines how intelligence networks, psychological warfare, and media campaigns have shaped political borders, national identities, and collective imaginations from the colonial era to the present. Through historical case studies, films, memoirs, and literature, students analyze the figures of the spy, the traitor, and the propagandist as cultural and moral intermediaries who blur the lines between loyalty and dissent. By tracing secrecy and persuasion as tools of both governance and resistance, the course offers new insights into how power, knowledge, and deception have defined the political landscape of the modern Middle East. Usually offered every second year.
Mariam Sheibani – Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
T,Th 2:20 PM–3:40 PM
Explores the political and cultural history of early modern and modern Muslim societies including the Mongols, Timurids, Mamluks, and the Gunpowder empires (Ottomans, Safavids and Mughals). It concludes with the transformations in the Middle East in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: European colonialism, modernization, and the rise of the nation-states. Usually offered every second year.
Alexander Kaye – Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
W 2:30 PM–5:20 PM
Introduces students to important works and themes of Jewish and Israeli historiography through the careful reading and discussion of both primary sources and secondary literature. Both classic texts and recent works will be examined. The course material, and the central themes addressed, will vary from year to year. Usually offered every second year.
Elizabeth Derderian – Anthropology
M,W 2:30 PM–3:50 PM
Archaeology has profoundly shaped the creation of the region we call the Middle East, both in terms of political borders as well as the region’s mediation through pop culture. The course examines how the Middle East’s rich cultural heritage continues to inform how the region is understood and interpreted-- from Victorian archaeologists and travelogues celebrating Nineveh and Babylon, to obsessions with mummies, Indiana Jones, the Iraq War, and contemporary sci fi and film. Usually offered every third year.
Nader Habibi - Economics
T,Th 3:55 PM–5:15 PM
Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a or the equivalent. Does not count toward the upper-level elective requirement for the major in economics.
Examines the Middle East economies ' past experiences, present situation, and future challenges, drawing on theories, policy formulations, and empirical studies of economic growth, trade, poverty, income distribution, labor markets, finance and banking, government reforms, globalization, and Arab-Israeli political economy. Usually offered every year.
Alejandro Trelles – Politics
M,W,Th 1:20 PM–2:10 PM
Introduces key concepts and questions in comparative politics and seeks to provide students with a grounding in the basic tools of comparative analysis. It applies and evaluates competing theoretical approaches (cultural, institutional, social-structural, and leadership-centered) to explain several important phenomena such as (1) democracy and democratization; (2) revolution; and (3) ethnicity and ethnic conflict. It also explores recent debates about the importance of civil society and political institutions in shaping political outcomes. Cases will be drawn from Africa, Asia, Western Europe, the Americas, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. Usually offered every year.
Shai Feldman – Politics
M 2:30 PM–5:20 PM
Spans the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, from the origins of Zionism and Palestinian nationalism in the late 19th century to the Hamas-Israel war that began on October 7, 2023. Uniquely co-taught by two scholars, one Palestinian and one Israeli, the class exposes students to competing perspectives about the conflict and provides a toolbox for explaining its causes and consequences. As the class is conducted seminar-style, student participation is expected and encouraged. Usually offered every year.
Ayumi Teraoka – Politics
T,Th 3:55 PM–5:15 PM
Explores the evolution, design, and operation of interstate security alliances—their history, institutional purposes, and strategic functions—while providing students with tools to analyze the gap between theory and practice in alliance behavior across different times and regions. Students will engage with major theories of alliance politics and apply these frameworks to evaluate contemporary security arrangements and partnerships. Case studies include both historical and present-day examples: World War I and World War II coalitions, the Sino-Soviet alliance, NATO, U.S. alliances in Asia, America’s “special relationships” with the United Kingdom and Israel, Indo-Pacific minilateral frameworks such as the Quad and AUKUS, and China’s growing network of “strategic partnerships.” In addition to guided discussion, students will conduct independent research on an alliance of their choice, sharpening their analytical skills and deepening their understanding of the policy dilemmas facing the United States, its allies and partners, and their strategic rivals. The course concludes with forward-looking debates on how alliances may evolve in the wake of the War in Ukraine and intensifying U.S.–China competition. Usually offered every year.
Guy Antebi – Hebrew Language, Literature, and Culture program
M,W,Th 10:10 AM–11:00 AM, T 10:00 AM–10:50 OR M,T,W,Th 11:15 AM–12:05 PM
Prerequisite: Any 20-level Hebrew course or the equivalent as determined by placement examination. Four class hours per week with additional half an hour to practice speaking skills.
A continuation of HBRW 20b. A beginner-intermediate level course that helps students strengthen their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills. Contemporary cultural aspects will be stressed and a variety of materials will be used. Usually offered every semester.
Guy Antebi – Hebrew Language, Literature, and Culture program
M,W,Th 1:20 PM–2:10 PM, T 12:45 PM–1:35 PM
Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or the equivalent. Four class hours per week with additional half an hour to practice speaking skills.
Reinforces the acquired skills of speaking, listening comprehension, reading, and writing at the intermediate level. Contemporary cultural aspects are stressed; conversational Hebrew and reading of selections from modern literature. Usually offered every semester.
Sara Hascal — Hebrew Language, Literature, and Culture program
M,W 2:30 PM–3:50 PM
Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.
Introduces students to various aspects of Israeli society as portrayed in Israeli films and television. In addition to viewing films, students will be asked to read Hebrew background materials, to participate in class discussions, and to write review and criticism about the films. The course prepares students to deepen their analytical skills in order to gain broader understanding and intercultural knowledge as well as transform their personal and global thinking. Usually offered every second year.
Barry Shrage - Hornstein
Module session 2 - Th 9:15 AM–12:00 PM
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Focuses on understanding the qualities and skills required of Jewish leadership facing our most complex challenges and choices. How particular? How universal? Is Israel the most divisive issue in American Jewish life or our most powerful unifying force? What will community and Peoplehood mean for the Millennial generation and the ones that follow. In particular we'll focus on Jewish community and its relationship to the crucial institutions and networks that comprise Jewish Community, The important role that community and its institutions play in shaping Jewish identity and conversely the critical role that Jewish identity plays as the glue that holds community together. We will therefore explore the nature and meaning of Jewish identity, historically and for the next generation and our critical relationship to Israel as it goes through its own challenges. We will also try to better understand the interaction between leadership and management when confronting periods of redefinition. As leaders we must do more than manage a good 'process.' We must have a future vision of our own and a preferred path for getting there. Usually offered every second year. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.