Spring 2022

Instructor: Ida Yalzadeh In this course, we will explore, expand, and question the disciplinary boundaries between Asian American and Arab American Studies. Grounded in converging critiques of US empire, we will ask: what are the possibilities and...

Instructor: Diana Eck How "Asian" is America today? This seminar explores the Asian dimensions of American history, immigration, religion, and culture as immigrants have come from India, China, Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan. When and why did they come...

Instructor: William Granara Description: Introduction to Arab-Islamic cultures of medieval Sicily, Spain (al-Andalus), and North Africa through primary historical and literature texts. Examines the emergence of a Maghribi identity amidst cross-cultural...

Instructor: Luis Giron Negron Examines trends, issues and debates in the comparative study of mystical literature. Close readings of primary works by Jewish, Christian and Muslim authors from the Middle Ages through the 16th century. Topics include poetry...

Instructor: Yunus Kumek This course introduces students to practices of spiritual care from a Muslim Perspective. As we will survey spiritual care practices of different Muslim cultures, our focus will be the relevant application of these practices in...

Instructor: Jocelyne Cesari Nationalism is not simply an ideology: it is also a set of practices by which territory, political power and the cultural identity of the people that inhabit this territory are constituted in a unique and singular fact. The...

Instructor: Jacob Olupona This course focuses on the history and phenomenology of African peoples’ religious experiences in the Americas. The historical and social processes that led to the emergence of African diasporic religions in Latin America and the...

Instructor: Kimberley Patton Description: A comparative course on the theme of weeping and lamentation in religious experience. One of the earliest human expressions of distress, tears remain a profound existential signifier at all stages of life...

Instructor: Jacob Olupona Religion is pivotal to the understanding of the history, culture, and politics of Nigeria's nation-state. The seminar examines the historical development of religion in Nigeria and explores its intersection with ethnic identity...

Instructor: Rosie Bsheer Description: How was the region of North Africa and West Asia between the Atlantic and Central Asia constructed, physically and discursively, as “the Middle East”? What were the major local, regional, and global events that have...