This conference course takes the history of Syria over the longue duree as its object of study. Spanning Syria?s political history from the genesis of Islam to the foundation of Syria as a modern nation state, the course additionally focuses on four broader themes: 1) Umayyad Syria at the genesis... Read more about Syria: History, Politics, and Religion
This course explores the doctrines and practices of the Ismailis, adherents of a minority branch of Shia Islam that recognizes the continuation of religious authority after the Prophet Muhammad through a particular line of his descendants known as the Imams. Focusing on their historical evolution... Read more about [Ismaili History and Thought]
What do Muslims think of acts of terrorism committed in the name of Islam, the mixing of religion with politics, the rights of women, the ``West''? This seminar investigates the viewpoints of prominent Muslim writers on these and other ``hot button'' issues as reflected in novels, short stories and... Read more about Muslim Voices in Contemporary World Literatures
The problem of religious diversity recurs in all of the major branches of Islamic thought and appears in complex permutations in diverse cultural contexts. Focusing primarily on pre-modern Islam, this course invites students to investigate perspectives on the religious other in the Quran, Islamic... Read more about Islam and Religious Diversity
Russia is in the news these days for its politics and espionage, but what about the daily lives of Russian people? Nothing gets at that reality in all its pettiness and grandeur better than Russian literature. The stories, poems, plays, movies, memoirs, and documentaries of the last twenty-five... Read more about The Other Russia: Twenty-First Century Films, Fictions, States of Mind
Explores the major political, economic, social, and security challenges facing - and emanating from - the Middle East. Particular attention paid to the causes of the so-called Arab Spring and the prospects for genuine democratization. Explores the role of colonial legacies, Islam, peculiarities of... Read more about Middle Eastern Politics and Policy
This course examines recent scholarship on women in American religious history, focusing particularly on questions of narration, agency and power. We will ask several interrelated questions: How have historians integrated women into narratives of American religious history? Whose stories have they... Read more about Women, Religion, and the Problem of Historical Agency
