An Interdepartmental Program in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

Last updated: September 19, 2022 at 2:34 PM

The Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (IMES) major is an interdisciplinary curriculum organized and taught by faculty in the Departments of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (NEJS), Politics, History, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics, Fine Arts and African and Afro-American Studies. Designed to provide a strong foundation in Middle Eastern studies with a specialized knowledge of Islam, the program provides unique opportunities to examine current geopolitical events and develop a deep understanding of religion, culture, and society in the Arab World, Turkey, Iran, and Israel. With a solid training in language, history, political theory and praxis, and the ideals and practices of Islam, the major is especially appropriate for students wishing to pursue graduate work in the fields of Middle Eastern Studies and Islamic Studies, and provides a solid foundation for students who wish to pursue careers dealing directly or indirectly with the Middle East.

Learning Goals

Learning goals for each student differ according to their aspirations and aptitudes. The Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies major offers a wide variety of courses covering multiple disciplines, from Religious Studies to Political Science. Each student should be able to focus upon those areas that best meet his or her particular interests, but also develop a broad training that touches upon other disciplines related to the field. To that end students should:

Be able to frame questions, investigate problems and evaluate conclusions using one or more academic disciplines or approaches (e.g. historical analysis, political science, social scientific analysis, and critical theories in the study of religion).
Be able to directly access the language(s) and culture(s) of the Middle East, in order to obtain a more objective understanding of issues pertaining to the fields of Middle Eastern Studies and Islamic Studies.
Be familiar with and recognize scholarly conventions and debates concerning the Middle East and Islamic Studies.
Be able to critically assess claims made by those in the field and in the mass media.
Be able to appreciate diversity in and between the political, cultural, and religious traditions of the Middle East, and to contribute to a greater understanding in the service of a more just and peaceful society.

To achieve these skills, students should know:

The general history of the Middle East from the rise of Islam until the contemporary period, with specialized knowledge of their particular area, or period, of interest.
The contemporary political economics, and social institutions of the Middle East.
The history of ideas in the Middle East and its relation to contemporary events.

How to Become a Major

Students who wish to major in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies must take the core course in Islamic civilization (IMES 104a) and at least two full years of a Middle Eastern language. Students who are fluent in Arabic, Persian, or Turkish may be exempted from the language requirements for a major in IMES upon approval by the chair of IMES. In addition, with the goal of achieving a balanced understanding of the overall field of study, the student must take two courses in the classical period and two courses in the modern period, as well as three courses to be chosen from the wide intellectual variety of elective courses. Elective courses may include two upper level Arabic courses: ARBC 103a, 103b, 106a, and 106b. Study in the Middle East for a term or a year is encouraged. As a culmination of the student's education, he or she is encouraged to write a senior honors thesis with emphasis on some aspects of Islamic or Middle Eastern studies. A member of the IMES faculty must supervise the honors thesis.

Faculty Committee

Pascal Menoret, Chair and Undergraduate Advising Head
(Anthropology)

Eva Bellin
(Politics)

Jonathan Decter
(Near Eastern and Judaic Studies)

Carl El-Tobgui
(Arabic Language)

Shai Feldman
(Politics)

Nader Habibi
(Economics)

Alexander Kaye
(Near Eastern and Judaic Studies)

Yehudah Mirsky
(Near Eastern and Judaic Studies)

Gary Samore
(Politics)

Amy Singer
(History)

Naghmeh Sohrabi
(History)

Requirements for the Minor

Core course: IMES 104a (Islam: Civilization and Institutions).
At least one course pertaining to the classical period.
At least one course pertaining to the modern period.
Three additional courses from the list of electives above, including up to two consecutive semesters of a Middle Eastern language beginning with either ARBC 10a or HBRW 10a (or 19a) or at a higher level if determined by placement.
No course with a final grade below C- can count toward fulfilling the minor requirements in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.
No course taken pass/fail may count toward the minor requirements.

Requirements for the Major

Four semesters of either Arabic or Hebrew beginning with either ARBC 10a or HBRW 10a (or 19a) or at a higher level if determined by placement.

Courses that count toward the language requirement include: ARBC 10a, ARBC 20b, ARBC 30a, ARBC 40b, ARBC 103a, ARBC 103b, ARBC 106a, ARBC 106b, HBRW 10a (or 19a), HBRW 20b (or 29b), HBRW 34a (or 39a), HBRW 35a, HBRW 44b (or 49b), and any 100-level Hebrew (HBRW) course.
Core course: IMES 104a (Islam: Civilization and Institutions).
Two courses pertaining to the classical period.
Two courses pertaining to the modern period.
Three additional courses from the list of electives below. IMES 99a and IMES 99b may count as two courses toward the completion of an IMES major.
Foundational Literacies: As part of completing the Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies major, students must:
- Fulfill the writing intensive requirement by successfully completing one of the following: AAAS 126b, HBRW 144a, HBRW 146a, or HIST 178a.
- Fulfill the oral communication requirement by successfully completing one of the following: ANTH 81a or HBRW 144a.
- Fulfill the digital literacy requirement by successfully completing one of the following: IGS 10a or NEJS 186a.
Honors: IMES students who complete their junior year with a cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher are eligible to enroll in IMES 99a and 99b, the IMES Senior Thesis, during their senior year. All students who aspire to graduate with honors in IMES must register for IMES 99a in fall semester and IMES 99b in the spring semester, and complete their thesis project.
No course with a final grade below C- can count toward fulfilling the major requirements in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.
No course taken pass/fail may count toward the major requirements.

Requirements for 5-Year BA/MA Program

Brandeis undergraduates who are NEJS or IMES majors are invited in their junior year to apply for admission to the five year BA/MA. Students must complete all requirements for the BA at the end of the fourth year, including the successful completion of the major in NEJS or IMES. The MA is awarded in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies.

Program of Study

Fourteen courses are required:

Internal transfer credit: seven Brandeis undergraduate courses (NEJS, IMES, and/or approved cross listed courses) numbered 100 or above for which grades of B- or higher have been earned.
Seven courses taken in the fifth year: four approved NEJS courses taught by NEJS faculty and three approved electives. Approved undergraduate language courses may be taken and count toward the required three electives.
Capstone requirement
Students must complete one of the three capstone options listed under the requirements for the NEJS MA.

Residence Requirement

One year of full-time residence (the fifth year) is required subsequent to completing the BA.

Language Requirement

All candidates are required to demonstrate language proficiency, normally in biblical or modern Hebrew or in Arabic.

Courses of Instruction

Expand All

(1-99) Primarily for Undergraduate Students

IMES 98a Independent Study

Usually offered every year.
Staff

IMES 99a Senior Thesis

Usually offered every year.
Staff

IMES 99b Senior Thesis

Usually offered every year.
Staff

(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students

IMES 104a Islam: Civilization and Institutions
[ hum nw ]

Provides a disciplined study of Islamic civilization from its origins to the modern period. Approaches the study from a humanities perspective. Topics covered will include the Qur'an, tradition, law, theology, politics, Islam and other religions, modern developments, and women in Islam. Usually offered every year.
Carl El-Tobgui

IMES 106a Politics of Modern Middle Eastern Art
[ ca djw hum ]

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.
Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi

IMES 140a Photology of the Syrian Uprising
[ hum nw ]

Examines how different media use photography and video to depict the evolution of the 2011 Syrian Uprising. It's uses "photology" as a theoretical tool to analyze political and social changes in Syria within the context of other historical, economic, and religious factors. Special one-time offering, fall 2018.
Hassan Almohammed

IMES Elective

AAAS 80a Economy and Society in Africa
[ nw ss wi ]

Perspectives on the interaction of economic and other variables in African societies. Topics include the ethical and economic bases of distributive justice; models of social theory, efficiency, and equality in law; the role of economic variables in the theory of history; and world systems analysis. Usually offered every third year.
Wellington Nyangoni

AAAS 126b Political Economy of the Third World
[ nw ss wi ]

Development of capitalism and different roles and functions assigned to all "Third Worlds," in the periphery as well as the center. Special attention will be paid to African and African American peripheries. Usually offered every year.
Wellington Nyangoni

AAAS 175a Comparative Politics of North Africa
[ nw ss ]

Explores the formation and development of political cleavages and cleavage systems, and of mass-based political groups, analyzing the expansion of mass political participation, elections, the impact of the military on political groups, and international factors. Usually offered every third year.
Wellington Nyangoni

ANTH 81a Conducting Ethnographic Fieldwork: Methods and Practice of Anthropological Research
[ oc ss wi ]

Formerly offered as ANTH 181aj.

Examines principal issues in ethnographic fieldwork and analysis, including research design, data collection, and ethnographic representation. Students will develop a focused research question, design field research, and conduct supervised fieldwork in a variety of local settings. Usually offered every second year.

Patricia Alvarez Astacio, Jonathan Anjaria, Elizabeth Ferry, Sarah Lamb, or Pascal Menoret

ANTH 118b Culture and Power in the Middle East
[ ss ]

Examines the peoples and societies of the Middle East from an anthropological perspective. Explores problems of cross-cultural examination, the notion of the Middle East as an area of study, and the role of anthropology in the formation of the idea of the 'Middle East.' To this end, the course is divided into sections devoted to understanding and problematizing key concepts and themes central to our understanding of the region, including tribe and state, family and kinship, gender and sexuality, honor and shame, tradition and modernity, and religion and secularism. Course materials will include critical ethnographies based on field work in the region as well as locally produced materials such as literature, music, film and other visual arts. Usually offered every fourth year.
Pascal Menoret

ARBC 103a Lower Advanced Arabic
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 40b or the equivalent. Four class-hours per week.

Designed to help the student attain advanced proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and understanding. The syllabus includes selections from modern texts representing a variety of styles and genres, advanced composition, and sustained development of oral-aural proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic. A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 103a is required to take ARBC 103b. Usually offered every year.
Carl Sharif El-Tobgui

ARBC 103b Middle Advanced Arabic: Contemporary Arab Media
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 103a or the equivalent. Four class hours per week.

Continuation of ARBC 103a. Intensive honing primarily of oral-aural skills and vocabulary building with concentration on the spoken media of the contemporary Arab world. Review and reinforcement of major grammatical topics as needed. Usually offered every year.
Staff

ARBC 106a Advanced Arabic I: Contemporary Arabic Literature
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 103b or the equivalent. Four class hours per week. May be repeated for credit.

Develops advanced reading competence through a variety of modern literary texts focusing on contemporary Arab society, culture, and intellectual life. Continued solidification of advanced grammar and style with application through frequent writing assignments, both analytical and creative. Class conducted entirely in Arabic. Usually offered every year.
Carl Sharif El-Tobgui

ARBC 106b Advanced Arabic II: Classical Arabic & Islamic Literature
[ fl hum ]

Prerequisite: A grade of C- or higher in ARBC 106a or the equivalent. Four class hours per week. May be repeated for credit.

Continuation of ARBC 106a. Develops advanced competence in reading and understanding classical texts, including a systematic introduction to some of the grammatical features typical of this genre. Readings include a variety of materials ' including poetry ' related to classical Arabic and Islamic literature, religion, history, and culture. Usually offered every year.
Carl Sharif El-Tobgui

CLAS 155a Mummies, Myths, and Monuments of Ancient Egypt
[ hum wi ]

Surveys Egyptian archaeology and culture and provides a critical examination of the reception and (mis)use of Ancient Egypt in popular culture over time. Usually offered every second year.
Darlene Brooks Hedstrom

FA 33b Islamic Art and Architecture
[ ca nw ]

Through case studies of cities, sites, and monuments, the 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. Usually offered every second year.
Muna Guvenc

FA 76a Palestinian and Israeli Art, Film and Visual Culture: Intersecting Visions
[ ca ]

Israelis and Palestinians have been creating vibrant and bold works of art that both reflect and transcend the region's conflict-ridden history. This course offers a critical comparative study of Israeli and Palestinian art, exploring contentious expressions of pain and trauma as well as shared visions of hope and peace. Usually offered every second year.
Gannit Ankori

FA 174a Art and Trauma: Israeli, Palestinian, Latin American and United States Art
[ ca ]

A comparative and critical examination of the various ways in which personal traumas (illness, death, loss) and collective traumas (war, the Holocaust, exile) find meaningful expression in the work of modern and contemporary artists from diverse regions. Usually offered every second year.
Gannit Ankori

HBRW 121b Let's Converse in Hebrew II: Life Challenges of an Israeli Family through a TV Series
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced-intermediate conversation course for students who wish to improve their speaking skills. Role playing, vocabulary building, and guided speaking activities develop conversational skills for various situations. Reading and discussion of contemporary texts, based on the popular Israeli TV series, "Yellow Peppers", assist in vocabulary building. Usually offered every second year.
Sara Hascal

HBRW 144a Hebrew through Plays and Drama
[ ca djw fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Focuses on improving Hebrew language skills at the advanced-intermediate level through critical reading and analysis of authentic and contemporary Israeli short plays and studying the comparison between plays in Israel and those in the U.S. The course will examine theories in aspects of drama and implement drama techniques including improvisation, movement, and creative expression. The course readings cover topics such as social diversity and justice as well as human rights and awareness of world identities. The course culminates in the writing of an original scene or one-act play in Hebrew. Usually offered every second year.
Sara Hascal

HBRW 146a The Voices of Jerusalem
[ djw fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

For advanced-intermediate students who wish to enhance their language proficiency and work toward improving fluency and communication through analysis of selected materials covering literature, poetry, history, politics, and art that depict the unique tradition and culture of Jerusalem. Usually offered every fall.
Sara Hascal

HBRW 152b Ethnic Minorities in the Modern State of Israel
[ fl hum oc ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

Examines the cultures and institutions of ethnic minorities in Israel. By examining and discussing the cultural characteristics and political activism of non-Jewish communities in Israel, this course exposes students to various faces of Israeli society, and to its multi-ethnic and multi-cultural identity. Special one-time offering, spring 2021.
Rima Farah

HBRW 162b Translation Practice and Theory
[ hum nw ]

Focuses on the practice and theory of Hebrew to English translation. Students will translate and edit authentic materials (literary texts, television series, film, internet sites, speeches and newspapers.) We will also use short texts on the theory and practice of translation in order to reflect on our own translation practices. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HBRW 167b The Sleeping Beauty: The Revival of Modern Hebrew
[ dl fl hum ]

Prerequisite: Any 40-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced course that surveys the origins of the Hebrew language and its development throughout the centuries, focusing on its major stages (biblical, rabbinic, medieval, and modern). Explores the unique phenomenon of its revival as a spoken language and its adaptation to the modern world. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

HBRW 170a Take I: Hebrew through Israeli Cinema
[ fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 40-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced culture course that focuses on strengthening all language skills by studying the various aspects of Israeli society as portrayed in Israeli films and television. In addition to viewing films, the students will be asked to read Hebrew background materials, to participate in class discussions, and to write in Hebrew about the films. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

HIST 134b The Ottoman Empire: From Principality to Republic by way of Empire
[ ss ]

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? Usually offered every second year.
Amy Singer

HIST 165a Starting from Food: New Perspectives on the Middle East and Islam
[ djw ss ]

Studying food - consumption, production, distribution, regulation, representation - illuminates every aspect of human history. This course explores texts, images, objects, local supermarkets and your experience to consider questions of power, identity, faith, taste, and more in Middle Eastern and Islamic history. Usually offered every second year.
Amy Singer

HIST 178a The Middle East and the West: Historical Encounters
[ djw nw ss wi ]

Examines Middle Eastern and Western encounters from nineteenth century to the present. Topics include: travel, Orientalism, modernity, spectacles and world fairs, gender and sexuality, notions of sovereignty, and the immigrant experience. Usually offered every second year.
Naghmeh Sohrabi

HIST 185b Turkey: From Ataturk to Erdogan
[ djw ss ]

Examines the history of the Turkish Republic, from its founding in the wake of World War I until the beginning of the 21st century. Through discussions of politics, economics, society and culture, the course studies the forces that shaped and reshaped Turkey. Like the Ottoman Empire from which it emerged, Turkey has attracted the attention of admirers and detractors alike. Meanwhile, it has played key roles and continues to be an important economic, political and cultural hub in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and the world. Usually offered every second year.
Amy Singer

IGS 10a Introduction to International and Global Studies
[ djw dl ss ]

"Globalization" touches us more every day. Introduces the challenges of globalization to national and international governance, economic success, individual and group identities, cultural diversity, the environment, and inequalities within and between nations, regions of the globe, gender, and race. Usually offered every year.
Kerry Chase or Chandler Rosenberger

IMES 106a Politics of Modern Middle Eastern Art
[ ca djw hum ]

NEJS 190a* Introduction to Islamic Theology
[ hum ]

An introduction to Islamic theology and intellectual tradition. After studying the formative period of the Prophet Mohammad's life, students examine the development of law, doctrines, beliefs, philosophy, and the diversity of thought in Islamic tradition. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

NEJS 29a Feminist Sexual Ethics in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
[ hum ]

Analyzes a variety of feminist critiques of religious texts and traditions and proposed innovations in theology and religious law. Examines biblical, rabbinic, and Qur'anic texts. Explores relation to U.S. law and to the social, natural, and medical sciences. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

NEJS 104a Comparative Semitic Languages
[ hum nw ]

An introduction to and description of the Semitic languages, the internal relationships within this linguistic family, and the distinctive grammatical and lexical features of the individual languages. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

NEJS 123a Maps, Graphs and Timelines: Technology and Design in Historical Research
[ dl hum oc ]

Learn the practical skills to represent data digitally as graphs, maps, timelines and other models. Students will develop their own research projects in topics of their interest and learn to think critically about the opportunities and pitfalls that digital methods pose, for scholarship, inclusion and for social justice. The course will include extensive practical instruction. Usually offered every second year.
Alexander Kaye

NEJS 149a The Jews of Muslim and Christian Spain
[ hum ]

A survey of Jewish political, intellectual, and social history in the Islamic and Christian spheres from the beginnings of Jewish life in Spain until the expulsion in 1492. Students develop skills in reading historical, literary, and philosophical texts. Usually offered every second year.
Jonathan Decter

NEJS 157b Arab-Jewish Modern Thought and Culture
[ djw hum ]

Against the backdrop of the partition of the 'Jew' from the 'Arab' in the modern national era, this course focuses on the Arab-Jewish borderland cultural world which simultaneously embodies Arab and Jewish histories, traditions, and identities. It traces different manifestations of Arab-Jewish culture from the early 20th century to today and explores the complex relationship between culture and politics in relation to questions of language, identity, nationality, borders, exile and memory. Usually offered every second year.
Yuval Evry

NEJS 174a Minorities and Others in Israeli Literature and Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of poetics and identity in modern Hebrew literature. By offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of various Hebrew texts, this seminar explores questions of personal and national identity, otherness, visibility, and marginality in the Israeli context. Usually offered every second year.
Ilana Szobel

NEJS 174b Israeli Women Writers on War and Peace
[ deis-us djw fl hum oc ]

Taught in Hebrew.

An exploration of nationalism and gender in Modern Hebrew literature. By discussing various Hebrew texts and Israeli works of art and film, this course explores women's relationship to Zionism, war, peace, the state, politics, and processes of cultural production. Usually offered every second year.
Ilana Szobel

NEJS 178a Love, Sex, and Power in Israeli Culture
[ djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew. May be repeated for credit.

Explores questions of romance, gender, marriage, and jealousy in the Israeli context by offering a feminist and psychoanalytic reading of Hebrew texts, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.
Ilana Szobel

NEJS 180b Israeli Film, Literature, and Culture
[ deis-us djw hum ]

Taught in English.

Surveys the development of Israeli literature and culture over the past 100 years and includes selections of poetry and prose from a wide range of writers. The course aims to illuminate what makes Hebrew literature distinct as well as investigate the themes, symbols, and subject matter that have come to constitute its central concerns since the early 20th century. Usually offered every second year.
Ilana Szobel

NEJS 189b Formative Moments in the Disputed Land of Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Examines the history of Israel/Palestine during the 20th century by focusing on several formative moments that took place pre and post 1948. It reexamines key issues that emerged around each of those events and explores the implications they had on the formation of Israeli and Palestinian societies. Usually offered every second year.

Yuval Evri

NEJS 191a The Bible and the Qur'an
[ hum ]

Formerly offered as NEJS 186b.

The Qur'an retells many narratives of the Tanakh and the New Testament. Compares the Qur'anic renditions with those of the earlier scriptures, focusing on the unique features of the Qur'anic versions. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

NEJS 193a Pirates, Mystics and Scholars: Travel Literature from the Islamic World
[ hum ]

Studies medieval and early modern travelogues from the Islamic world in English translation. These works provide us with a candid view of the Muslim Mediterranean including things like urban topography, social life, orthodox and subversive religious practices, status of minorities, conditions and limits of hospitality and so on. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

NEJS 196a Cultural Contact Zones in Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Explores the different ways in which boundaries have been constructed and imagined in the cultural scene in Israel/Palestine from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. It traces different cultural arenas that emerged during this period using examples from literature, cinema, music and visual arts – exploring the Hebrew-Arabic contact zones, religious and secular borderlands, the national divide between Jews and Arabs, and the fluid borderland across the gender divide. Usually offered every second year.

Yuval Evri

POL 145b Seminar: Muslims in the West: Politics, Religion, and Law
[ oc ss ]

Controversies about the integration of Muslims and Islam have fueled anti-immigrant sentiments and electoral politics in Western Europe and North America. But what are the facts about Muslim minorities and Islam in Western societies? Muslim migrants embrace many Islamic traditions from conservative to secularized identities and blended identities. The course introduces students to public policies and law on matters of the exercise of religion, secularism, and the accommodation of Islam and Muslim through comparative case studies ranging from the French headscarf bans to controversies over free speech and blasphemy. Usually offered every year.
Jytte Klausen

POL 160a The War on Global Terrorism
[ dl ss ]

Intended for juniors and seniors, but open to all students.

Explores how 9/11 changed our lives. The course surveys the build-up of Al Queda leading up to the 9/11 attacks and ten years of counter terrorism. Students are given an introduction to Jihadist doctrines and Al Queda's structure, as well as theories about the cause of terrorism. Usually offered every year.
Jytte Klausen

POL 162b Middle East Crisis: Competing Explanations
[ nw ss ]

Explores how political developments in the Middle East (e.g. the Arab Spring, ISIS, the Iranian nuclear program) can be seen from a number of different disciplinary perspective. The class provides students a toolbox for understand current and future developments. Usually offered every second year.
Shai Feldman

POL 166b Seminar: The Middle East in International Relations
[ ss ]

Explores how the concepts, theories, and paradigms from the field of International Relations can be used to analyze the politics of the Middle East. This class provides students a toolbox for understanding current and future developments in the ever-changing relations between the region's states. Usually offered every second year.
Shai Feldman

POL 170a Nuclear Weapons and International Security
[ ss ]

Examines the role of nuclear weapons in international relations from World War II to the present. We will cover the technology of nuclear weapons, the development of nuclear strategy and doctrine, arms control and nonproliferation efforts, and the spread of nuclear weapons beyond the Western powers (the U.S., Russia, United Kingdom and France) to the Middle East and Asia, including China, India, Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea. Usually offered every year.
Gary Samore

POL 177b National Security Strategy: The Case of Israel
[ ss ]

Examines key concepts in national security studies and illustrates their relevance and explanatory power by applying them to Israel's pursuit of national security. Evaluates the extent to which Israel's strategy is typical of small states attempting to withstand numerically superior neighbors. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

REL 107a Introduction to World Religions
[ hum nw ]

An introduction to the study of religion; this core course surveys and broadly explores some of the major religions across the globe.
Kristen Lucken

SAS 100a India and Pakistan: Understanding South Asia
[ djw hum nw ss ]

Examines the making and unmaking of modern South Asia as a region, with particular focus on India and Pakistan as well as their connections to Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Using perspectives from history, politics, anthropology, literature, and film, the course introduces students to key themes in the study of South Asia, such as colonialism and anti-colonial struggles, legacies of empire, caste critique and Dalit thought, gender and sexuality, religion, and popular culture. Usually offered every year. Usually offered every year.
Jonathan Anjaria, Ulka Anjaria, or Harleen Singh

SOC 127a Religion, Ethnicity, and Nationalism
[ nw oc ss ]

Examines three sources of identity that are influential in global affairs: religion, ethnicity and nationalism. Considers theories of the relationship among these identities, especially "secularization theory," then reviews historical examples such as Poland, Iran, India, and Pakistan. Usually offered every second year.
Chandler Rosenberger

IMES Modern Period

ANTH 120b Ecology and Society in the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula
[ ss ]

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. Usually offered every third year.

Pascal Menoret

ANTH 141a Islamic Movements
[ ss ]

Examines the social and cultural dimensions of contemporary Islamic movements from an anthropological perspective. It starts by critically engaging with such fundamental concepts as Orientalism, colonialism, and nationalism. Topics to be discussed include the difference between the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafism, Islamist feminism, Islamic public arguments, Al-Qaeda and ISIS, victimization and martyrdom, and the relationship between humanitarianism and terrorism. Usually offered every second year.
Pascal Menoret

ECON 122b The Economics of the Middle East
[ nw ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or 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.
Nader Habibi

FA/NEJS 183a Breaking Boundaries in Contemporary Israeli Culture
[ ca hum ]

Explores how the Creative Arts reflect, challenge, and reconfigure various cleavages and barriers that characterize contemporary Israeli society. This course will focus on literary, visual and cinematic artworks, organized around thematic clusters and major theoretical issues. Usually offered every second year.
Gannit Ankori and Ilana Szobel

HBRW 124a Hebrew for Business, Doing Business in Start-Up Nation
[ dl fl wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor. Does not meet the requirement in the school of humanities.

Provides students with tools and competence to deal with the Israeli business community. For advanced-intermediate Hebrew students who wish to gain cultural understanding and business language speaking skills. Usually offered every second year.
Sara Hascal

HBRW 152b Ethnic Minorities in the Modern State of Israel
[ fl hum oc ]

HBRW 161b What's Up?: Hebrew through Israeli News Media
[ fl hum wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

For advanced-intermediate students who wish to enhance proficiency and work toward improving fluency and communication. In this course, Israeli media, films,clips from Israeli TV shows, and on-line resources will be used to promote language and cultural competency. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

HBRW 164b Israeli Theater
[ ca djw fl hum oc wi ]

Prerequisite: Any 30-level Hebrew course or permission of the instructor.

An advanced-intermediate course that promotes language skills through the reading and analysis of plays. The student's creativity is developed through participation in acting and creative writing assignments. Usually offered every second year.
Sara Hascal

HIST 111a History of the Modern Middle East
[ djw nw ss ]

An examination of the history of the Middle East from the nineteenth century to contemporary times. Focuses on political events and intellectual trends, such as imperialism, modernity, nationalism, and revolution, that have shaped the region in the modern era. Usually offered every second year.
Naghmeh Sohrabi

HIST 111b The Iranian Revolution in Global Context
[ djw dl nw ss ]

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. Usually offered every second year.
Naghmeh Sohrabi

HIST 112a Nationalism in the Middle East
[ djw nw ss ]

Seminar examining the history of nationalism in the modern Middle East. Covers divergent theories and practices of nationalism in the region, and explores the roles of gender, memory, historiography, and art in the formation and articulation of Middle East nationalisms. Usually offered every second year.
Naghmeh Sohrabi

HIST 135b Get Up, Stand Up: A Century of Revolutions in the Middle East
[ djw nw ss ]

An examination of the various revolutions that have shaped the modern Middle East since the late 19th century. The course focuses on four different revolutionary moments: The constitutional revolutions of the turn of the century, the anti-colonial revolutions of mid-century, the radical revolutions of the 1970's, and most recently, the Arab Spring revolutions that have affected the region since 2011. Usually offered every second year.
Naghmeh Sohrabi

HIST 140b Charity and Poverty in Islamic Societies
[ djw nw ss ]

Charity and poverty are universal aspects of human societies, culturally specific and historically contingent. This course studies charitable giving as a fundamental aspect of Muslim belief and practice, reflecting change over time and space, offering comparisons with non-Muslim societies. Usually offered every second year.
Amy Singer

HIST 178a The Middle East and the West: Historical Encounters
[ djw nw ss wi ]

IGS 165a Revolution, Religion, and Terror: Postcolonial Histories
[ djw nw oc ss ]

Examines religious conflict, revolutionary violence, and civil war in modern South Asia. It looks at Jihad, Maoist militancy, rising fundamentalism, and the recent refugee crisis. Usually offered every second year.
Avinash Singh

IMES 140a Photology of the Syrian Uprising
[ hum nw ]

NEJS 136a Israeli Popular Culture: Language, Gender, and Politics
[ hum ]

Ever wondered why Israeli television is all over Netflix, or why Sabra hummus came to dominate your supermarket shelves? In this course, we will examine multiple forms of popular culture, including television, music, cookbooks, social media, fashion, and more, to understand contemporary Israeli society, with a focus on debates over language, gender, and politics in a global context. Special attention will be paid to cultural production from Israel's minorities, including Israeli Palestinians, Orthodox Jews, and Mizrahim (Jews from Arab and Islamic lands.) Course readings will combine theory, primary sources, and popular criticism. No previous knowledge of Israel, Judaism, or the Middle East is required, and all materials will be provided in English translation. Usually offered every second year.
Shayna Weiss

NEJS 145a History of the State of Israel
[ hum ]

Examines the development of the State of Israel from its foundation to the present time. Israel's politics, society, and culture will be thematically analyzed. Usually offered every year.
Staff

NEJS 154b Zionism, Israel, and the Reshaping of Jewish Identity
[ hum ]

Explores the relations between pluralism, religious resurgence, secularism and democracy in our time through readings in history, literature, philosophy, sociology, theology and law. Focuses on one fascinating, contentious and deeply consequential place: The State of Israel. Usually offered every second year.
Yehudah Mirsky

NEJS 160b Legal Controversies in Israeli History
[ djw hum nw ]

Investigates Israeli history, politics, and culture through the lens of major legal controversies including the tension between "Jewish" and "democratic," the Shoah in Israeli history, the Occupied Territories, legislation of family life and religious practice and more. Usually offered every second year.
Alexander Kaye

NEJS 173a Trauma and Violence in Israeli Literature and Film
[ deis-us djw fl hum ]

Taught in Hebrew.

Explores trauma and violence in Israeli Literature, film, and art. Focuses on man-made disasters, war and terrorism, sexual and family violence, and murder and suicide, and examines their relation to nationalism, Zionism, gender, and sexual identity. Usually offered every second year.
Ilana Szobel

NEJS 177a The Holocaust in Israeli and Jewish Literature
[ hum ]

Taught in English.

A broad survey of Holocaust writings in Modern Jewish literature. Examines the psychological, social, moral, and aesthetic challenges involved in representing the Holocaust in Israeli, American, and European context through literary texts, theoretical research, works of art, and film. Usually offered every third year.
Ilana Szobel

NEJS 185b The Making of the Modern Middle East
[ hum nw ss wi ]

Open to all students.

Discusses the processes that led to the emergence of the modern Middle East: disintegration of Islamic society, European colonialism, reform and reaction, and the rise of nationalism and the modern states. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

NEJS 189a The Arab-Israeli Conflict
[ hum ss ]

Consideration of Arab-Jewish relations, attitudes, and interactions from 1880 to the present. Emphasis on social factors and intellectual currents and their impact on politics. Examines the conflict within its international setting. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

NEJS 189b Formative Moments in the Disputed Land of Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Yuval Evri

NEJS 196a Cultural Contact Zones in Israel-Palestine
[ djw hum ]

Yuval Evri

POL 11b Introduction to Comparative Politics
[ ss ]

Open to first-year students.

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.
Eva Bellin

POL 128a The Politics of Revolution: State Violence and Popular Insurgency in the Third World
[ nw ss ]

Introduction to twentieth-century revolutionary movements in the Third World, focusing on the emergence of peasant-based resistance and revolution in the world beyond the West, and on the role of state violence in provoking popular involvement in protest, rebellion, and insurgency. Usually offered every year.
Ralph Thaxton

POL 162b Middle East Crisis: Competing Explanations
[ nw ss ]

POL 164a Seminar: Conflict and Peacemaking in the Middle East
[ ss ]

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. Usually offered every year.
Shai Feldman

POL 166b Seminar: The Middle East in International Relations
[ ss ]

IMES Classical Period

ANTH 7a Great Discoveries: Introduction to Archaeology
[ nw ss ]

Introduces archaeology as the anthropological study of humans in the past. Considers foundational theories and methods in archaeology and delves into the origins of great civilizations in the ancient world- Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, Africa, the Americas, and others by exploring the archaeology of economy, warfare, art, systems of power, and politics, science, and more. Usually offered every year.

Charles Golden or Charlotte Goudge

ARBC 106b Advanced Arabic II: Classical Arabic & Islamic Literature
[ fl hum ]

CLAS 155a Mummies, Myths, and Monuments of Ancient Egypt
[ hum wi ]

HBRW 167b The Sleeping Beauty: The Revival of Modern Hebrew
[ dl fl hum ]

HIST 134b The Ottoman Empire: From Principality to Republic by way of Empire
[ ss ]

NEJS 190a* Introduction to Islamic Theology
[ hum ]

NEJS 3a Religions of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam
[ hum ]

An introduction to the three major religions originating in the Near East: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Areas of focus include historical development, sacred texts, rituals, and interpretive traditions. Usually offered every second year.
Jonathan Decter

NEJS 134a Debating Religion: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Dialogue and Dispute
[ hum ]

A history of interreligious polemic, disputation, and dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims from antiquity to modernity. The course highlights points of difference and contention among the traditions as well as the ways in which the practice of disputation played a formative role in the coevolution of those traditions. Usually offered every second year.
Jonathan Decter

NEJS 143a Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Spain
[ djw hum ]

Examines interactions among the three religious communities focusing on political and social development, intra-religious conflict, and intellectual and artistic production. We will investigate the degree to which Castilian culture can be described as "Christian" or as "Muslim-Christian-Jewish" in character. Usually offered every second year.
Jonathan Decter

NEJS 144a Jews in the World of Islam
[ hum nw ]

Examines social and cultural history of Jewish communities in the Islamic world. Special emphasis is placed on the pre-modern Jewish communities. Usually offered every second year.
Jonathan Decter

NEJS 149a The Jews of Muslim and Christian Spain
[ hum ]

NEJS 181b Film and the Holocaust
[ hum ]

Open to all students.

Examines the medium of film, propaganda, documentary, and narrative fiction relevant to the history of the Holocaust. The use of film to shape, justify, document, interpret, and imagine the Holocaust. Beginning with the films produced by the Third Reich, the course includes films produced immediately after the events, as well as contemporary feature films. The focus will be how the film medium, as a medium, works to (re)present meaning(s). Usually offered every second year.
Sharon Rivo

NEJS 186a Introduction to the Qur'an
[ djw dl hum nw ]

Traces the history of the Qur'an as text, its exegesis, and its role in inter-religious polemics, law, theology, and politics. Examines the role of the Qur'an in Islamic teachings and its global impact. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

NEJS 187b The Book and Writing in the Islamic World
[ hum ]

The rise of Islam and its expansion as a political entity coincided with the widespread use of paper as a cheap writing material and the rise of an urban scholarly elite. Therefore, in the "Golden Age" of Islamic civilization, thousands and thousands of manuscripts, beautifully illuminated books, ornate copies of the Qur'an and exquisite inscriptions in mosaics and stone were produced. In this course we will study the history of Islamic civilization through one of its greatest achievements: the art and the craft of writing and books. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

NEJS 194b Sufism: Mystical Traditions in Classical and Modern Islam
[ hum nw ]

An examination of the teaching and practices of the Sufi tradition. Explores the foundations of Sufism, its relation to other aspects of Islam, the development of Sufi teachings in both poetry and prose, and the manner in which Sufism is practiced in lands as diverse as Egypt, Turkey, Iran, India, Malaysia, and Europe. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

NEJS 195a Muhammad: From Early Muslim Accounts to Modern Biographies
[ hum ]

Studies the life of Muhammad based upon the earliest biographical accounts and the academic analyses in both Islamic and non-Islamic sources, accompanied by an examination of his legacy in different aspects of Islam, such as Shi'ism and Sufism. Usually offered every third year.
Staff

NEJS 195b Early Islamic History from Muhammad to the Mongols
[ hum nw ]

Introduces Islamic history from the birth of Islam in the 7th century to the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. Students will examine trends in political, social, and intellectual history, focusing on three main periods; Islamic Origins, The High Caliphate, and Fragmentation/Efflorescence. Readings will include primary sources in translation, as well as academic analyses from traditional, critical, and revisionist perspectives. Usually offered every second year.
Staff

University Bulletin (2022-2023)