COLLOQUIUM ON MAJOR TEXTS
Readings in translation and discussion of texts of Middle Eastern and Indian origin. Readings may include the Quran, Islamic philosophy, Sufi poetry, the Upanishads, Buddhist sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, Indian epics and drama, and Gandhis Autobiography.
- T 10:10 a.m.-noon
- W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
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Instructor:
Nathanael P Shelley
CULPA: 6
Info
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Instructor:
Rachel McDermott
CULPA: 37
Info
- 4 points
COLLOQUIUM ON MAJOR TEXTS
COLLOQ ON MAJOR TEXTS: E ASIA
This course explores the core classical literature in Chinese, Japanese and Korean Humanities. The main objective of the course is to discover the meanings that these literature offer, not just for the original audience or for the respective cultures, but for us. As such, it is not a survey or a lecture-based course. Rather than being taught what meanings are to be derived from the texts, we explore meanings together, informed by in-depth reading and thorough ongoing discussion.
- R 10:10 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
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Instructor:
David L Moerman
CULPA: 18
Info
- 4 points
ETHNICITY, RACE, IDENTITY IN THE PRE-MOD
This seminar investigates the concepts of ethnicity, race, and identity, in both theory and practice,
through a comparative survey of several case studies from the Pre-Modern history of the Middle East.
The course focuses on symbols of identity and difference, interpreting them through a variety of
analytical tools, and evaluating the utility of each as part of an ongoing exploration of the subject. The
survey considers theories of ethnicity and race, as well as their critics, and includes cases from the
Ancient World (c. 1000 BCE) through the Old Regime (c. 1800 CE).
Students in this course will gain a familiarity with major theories of social difference and alterity, and
utilize them to interpret and analyze controversial debates about social politics and identity from the
history of the Middle East, including ancient ethnicity, historical racism, Arab identity, pluralism in the
Islamic Empire, and slavery, among others. In addition, students will spend much of the semester
developing a specialized case study of their own on a historical community of interest. All of the case
studies will be presented in a showcase at the end of the semester.
All assigned readings for the course will be in English. Primary sources will be provided in translation.
The course meets once a week and sessions are two hours long.
- T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
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Instructor:
Nathanael P Shelley
CULPA: 6
Info
- 4 points
Outlaws & Tricksters of Arabic Literatur
TRICKSTERS IN ARABIC LIT
What is so fascinating about outlaws and tricksters? They can be alluring and terrifying, creative and destructive. They wear disguises, upend the plans of their fellow humans, and bend societies to their will. They are unsettled and unsettling. But this course suggests that there is no single figure of the trickster. Rather, the significance of writing about tricksters and outlaws varies from text to text and from place to place. In this course, we will explore texts, mostly from the pre-modern period, written in Arabic (and sometimes Persian and Sanskrit) that depict outlaws and tricksters. We will ask after what texts are doing in the world when they tell stories that seem to celebrate and delight in the subversive, the strange, and the sinister. To help us think through these questions, we will also read divergent theories about outlaws, tricksters, and other subversives. At the end of the course, we will read the award-winning Iraqi novel Frankenstein in Baghdad.
- T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
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Instructor:
Matthew L Keegan
CULPA: 8 Info - 4 points
BABYLON-BAGHDAD: AN URBAN HISTORY
This seminar investigates the metropolitan site of Babylon-Baghdad as the focal center and built
environment at the center of 4000 years of social history. Through a consideration of the historical and
archaeological sources available, the course proceeds chronologically and surveys the urban history of
the site from its ancient origins, c. 2000 BCE, all the way to the present day. The survey explores how
the communities residing in the city shaped, and were shaped by, the city.
Students in this course will gain a familiarity with the major periods of Middle Eastern History — Ancient, Islamic, and Modern — and a detailed awareness of the metropolitan region of Babylon-
Baghdad. In addition to the historical survey and engagement with primary sources and theoretical works, students will develop a research paper on a specialized topic of interest associated with the city.
This investigation requires a synthesis of the ideas discussed in class, and presents an opportunity to
investigate a specific feature or characteristic of the city in detail.
All assigned readings for the course will be in English. Primary sources will be provided in translation.
The course assumes that you have taken at least one introductory course on either the Ancient Near
East or the Islamic Middle East to use as a foundation for further development. Students without a
background in the Middle East may take the course if they are willing to do a little preparatory reading.
The course meets once a week and sessions are two hours long.
- W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
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Instructor:
Nathanael P Shelley
CULPA: 6
Info
- 4 points
LABOR AND LOVE IN CHINA
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- W 10:10 a.m.-noon
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Instructor:
Nicholas A Bartlett
CULPA: 5
Info
- 3 points
HINDU GODDESSES
Prerequisites: One course in Indian culture or religion or permission of the instructor. Study of a variety of Hundu goddesses, focusing on representative figures from all parts of India and on their iconography, associated powers, and regional rituals. Materials are drawn from textual, historical, and field studies, and discussion includes several of the methodological controversies involving interpretation of goddess worship in India.
- T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
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Instructor:
Rachel McDermott
CULPA: 37
Info
- 4 points
HELL IN EAST ASIAN CULTURE
Whereas many in the modern West may commonly associate heavens and hells with the traditions of Christianity and Islam, Buddhist Asia shares an equally extensive concern with the paradises and punishments of the afterlife. Indian Buddhist scriptures, and their translations and elaborations across Asia, celebrate an infernal cosmology that makes Dante’s opus seem like a Hallmark card by comparison. This seminar focuses particularly on hells in the East Asian imaginary with the occasional detour to Southeast Asia, India, or Tibet for purposes of comparison. Our analysis of the practices, discourses, and representations of hells in East Asia is designed to coincide with a major exhibition on Asian Hells at Asia Society NY (Sept-Dec 2020). In this seminar we will view the exhibition together and each student will discuss an object on view, which they will have selected and prepared for in advance. Each student will work on a seminar project (usually, but not necessarily, an academic research paper) throughout the second half of the seminar. Proposal, bibliography, preliminary draft(s), and presentation will be due in stages during the process and students will receive feedback at each stage before the final draft is due at the beginning of final exam period. This course is designed for graduate students and advanced undergraduates who are expected to have completed coursework in relevant areas of East Asian Studies, Religion, or Art History.
- R 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
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Instructor:
David L Moerman
CULPA: 18
Info
- 4 points
JAPANESE BUDDHIST VISUAL CULTR
This course explors the principal modes, media, and contexts of visual culture in Japanese Buddhist history. Through the analysis of selected case studies, the course examines of the modalities of perception, materiality, and reception that distinguish the form and function of visual media in Japanese Buddhist contexts. Students are expected to have completed preliminary coursework in relevant areas of East Asian history, religion, or art history.
- W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
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Instructor:
David L Moerman
CULPA: 18
Info
- 3 points