This course provides an overview of the evolution of Arabic theater, tracing its beginnings in shadow and puppet art, its development into fourth-wall or proscenium-arch forms, and finally its expansion into free, offstage performances in streets and public spaces. Along the way, the course examines the influence of Western theatrical mise-en-scène on shaping the Arabic theatrical experience. While writers such as Tawfiq al-Hakim (Egypt) and Saadallah Wannous (Syria) borrow artistic techniques like Brecht’s alienation effect and Henrik Ibsen’s realistic representation, others like Tayeb Saddiki (Morocco) revitalize traditional indigenous forms such as Al-Halqa (here, ‘the street circle’) celebrating local identity and reviving earlier oral storytelling performances like those of the Hakawati (storyteller). Regardless of aesthetic form—Western, traditional, or hybrid—questions of political oppression, national identity, and socio-economic disparity within a globally volatile context remain pivotal to these playwrights' works. Students will read and (where possible) view plays spanning primarily from the twentieth century into the early twenty-first century. They will also explore performance theories such as realism, naturalism, and expressionism that set the foundational theoretical framework for this course and provide the students with the necessary tools to critically engage with the plays under discussion.” No knowledge of Arabic is required. This course originates in Middle Eastern and North African Studies and is crosslisted with: Theater. (Same as: THTR 1100)

Introduces students to current debates in the study of the Middle East and North Africa through multiple disciplinary and inter-disciplinary approaches. Familiarizes students with key terms and concepts such as nationalism, imperialism, feminism, and religion. Explores how studying the region shapes our understanding of topics such as migration, displacement, refugees, revolution, and the nation-state. Course modules include social identities, empires and imperialism, knowledge and power, citizenship, and resources and the environment. Emphasizes how the study of the Middle East and North Africa informs answers to big questions.

Terms offered: 2024 Fall Semester

This course introduces students to contemporary Egyptian colloquial Arabic. The Egyptian dialect is the most widely spoken across the Arab world. Thus, it is a useful dialect not just in Egypt but in most Arabic speaking countries. There will be a particular emphasis on building up knowledge of spoken grammar and vocabulary as used by native speakers. Students develop interactive communicative skills through active participation in task-based conversations, listening comprehension and vocabulary-building activities. Resources may include authentic audio-visual materials, movie screenings, snippets of popular culture and excerpts of oral literary works. By simulating real-life situations through role-play among a number of crafted pedagogical strategies, students will develop proficiency in practicing conversational Egyptian Arabic. This course is intended for beginners though students at higher levels are welcome to join. This course originates in Arabic and is crosslisted with: Middle Eastern & North African. (Same as: ARBC 1103)

Terms offered: 2023 Spring Semester

An introduction to the Arabic philosophical tradition, focusing on the time period one might call the “classical” age of Arabic thought from al-Kindi and the transmission of Greek philosophy (ninth century) to Averroes (twelfth century). Topics to be considered include the eternity of the world; the theory of soul and intellect; the relation between philosophy and religion; the attitude taken towards Greek philosophical texts, especially Aristotle, by Muslim philosophers; the problem of divine attributes; the nature of God as a cause; and the problem of free will. This course originates in Philosophy and is crosslisted with: Middle Eastern & North African. (Same as: PHIL 1113)

Begins by showing how Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the modern Middle East are intertwined closely with politics and with their local contexts. Case studies include modern Iran, Israel, and Lebanon. Investigates how the foundational texts of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam were politically and socially constructed. Considers throughout the influence of other Middle Eastern religions. This course originates in Religion and is crosslisted with: Middle Eastern & North African. (Same as: REL 1150)

Terms offered: 2023 Spring Semester; 2025 Spring Semester

Focuses on the on the impact of European colonialism and modern globalization on Arabic literature. How have Arab writers and poets understood the massive historical changes taking place around them since the early 1900s? How have they “written back” against empire? Who gets marginalized in modern Arab societies, and how do the marginalized find their voices in literature? Examines diverse authors and genres in Arabic literature from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Taught in English translation.

Terms offered: 2024 Spring Semester

With an emphasis on primary sources, pursues major themes in Islamic civilization from the revelation of the Qur’an to Muhammad until the present. From philosophy to political Islam, and from mysticism to Muslims in America, explores the diversity of a rapidly growing religious tradition. This course originates in Religion and is crosslisted with: Middle Eastern & North African. (Same as: REL 2208)

Terms offered: 2021 Fall Semester; 2023 Fall Semester; 2025 Fall Semester

This course examines global perspectives on queer politics, exploring how gender and sexuality shape everyday life, labor, family, and political imaginaries. The course draws on transdisciplinary scholarship and various genres, including essays, stories, letters, interviews, poetry, music, and memoir. Students connect with queer collectives in the Global South through virtual conversations and discussion groups. This course originates in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies and is crosslisted with: Middle Eastern and North African Studies. (Same as: GSWS 2233)

Terms offered: 2025 Fall Semester

Examines the co-constitution of race, gender, sexuality, ability, and class through the lens of transnational feminist theory. Investigates how these categories are shaped by and resist structures such as patriarchy, queer/transphobia, settler colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, and right-wing populism. Analyzes the commodification of feminism and the appropriation of identity politics within progressive and reactionary movements. Explores historical and contemporary forms of resistance across global contexts. Engages art, storytelling, and performance as sites of social change, examining how creative practices cultivate radical imaginaries and social justice. This course originates in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies and is crosslisted with: Middle Eastern and North African Studies. (Same as: GSWS 2290)

Terms offered: 2025 Fall Semester

Examines modern Middle Eastern and North African history from the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the rise of the nation-state to the present conjuncture of revolution and war. Proceeds chronologically with attention to the main events and turning points in the region. Considers how the over-arching questions about the region have been posed. Key themes are empire and nationalism; colonialism, anticolonialism and revolution; war, humanitarianism, and migration; and oil and the history of capital. This course will satisfy the non-Euro requirement for the history major/minor. This course originates in Arabic and is crosslisted with: History. (Same as: HIST 2441)

Terms offered: 2022 Fall Semester; 2023 Fall Semester; 2025 Fall Semester

Palestinians are often imagined as terrorists or victims in U.S. media – or simply not covered. This course challenges such perceptions by centering the stories of Palestinians beginning with the British Mandate (1920s-1940s) and continuing to the present day. Course materials explore geographical, political, gender, and class divisions within Palestinian society, and how these interact with the larger anti-colonial struggle. Topics include the creation of national symbols and myths, resistance and collaboration, trauma and testimony, and artistic “commitment.” Genres include poetry, novels, short stories, and autobiography. Beginning with the Class of 2025, this class will fulfill the African American, Asian American, Indigenous, Latinx, multiethnic American, or global literature requirement for English majors.

Terms offered: 2023 Spring Semester

Explores a variety of approaches to and interpretations of the Qur’an, the foundational text of Islam. Special attention will be paid to the Qur’an’s doctrines, its role in Islamic law, its relationship to the Bible, and its historical context. While the Qur’an will be read entirely in English translation, explores the role of the Arabic Qur’an in the lives of Muslims worldwide. This course originates in Religion and is crosslisted with: Middle Eastern & North African. (Same as: REL 2232)

Terms offered: 2022 Fall Semester; 2024 Fall Semester

The concept of revolution, though a defining concept of our time, seems at once urgent and dated. The challenges of the term are blatant in the study of the Middle East and North Africa, which has been so often perceived as a passive place of inactive subjects and enduring “despotisms.” This course asks how might we open the concept of revolution onto histories it has been shielded from? Considers concept histories, and what it means to think about revolution from the colonial and postcolonial world. Works through the long history of revolution in the region, including the Egyptian Revolution of 1919, the Algerian War of Independence, the Palestinian Revolution, the Iranian Revolution, and the Arab Spring. It fulfills the non Euro/US requirement for history majors and minors. This course originates in Arabic and is crosslisted with: History. (Same as: HIST 2299)

Terms offered: 2023 Spring Semester; 2025 Spring Semester

For a long time, nationalism and Marxism appeared as the strongest answers to the questions facing much of the postcolonial world, twinned ideologies—as often at odds as they were conjoined—that could uniquely navigate the challenge of postcolonial modernity. The Middle East and North Africa were no different. The modern period in the region has arguably been defined by the arc in which these ideologies have risen and fallen and risen again. But nationalism and Marxism have not just been applied to this part of the world; they have been reworked and changed in the encounter. This is a lecture course with discussion sections. We'll start with some foundational texts in postcolonial nationalist and Marxist thought, and we’ll then trace the history of these traditions in the MENA region around questions like imperialism and sovereignty, labor struggles and class conflict, religion, and the rise of Islamism. There will be an emphasis on memoirs, novels, and films.

Terms offered: 2024 Spring Semester

Examines the development and proliferation of the Arabic novel during the post-World War II period. Edward Said’s statement that narratives “become the method colonized people use to assert their own identity and the existence of their own history” is the point of departure. Illustrates how the discourses and ideologies of colonialism influence the modern Arabic novel. Focuses on themes of struggle, resistance, nationalism, migration, and gender equality. Novels studied may include Najīb Maḥfūẓ’s Midaq Alley, Ghassān Kanafānī’s Men in the Sun, Aṭ-Ṭayyib Ṣāliḥ’s Season of Migration to the North, ʻAbd al-Raḥmān Munīf’s Endings, Ḥanān Shaykh’s The Story of Zahra, Ahlem Mosteghanemi’s Memory in the Flesh, and Aḥmad Saʻdāwī’s Frankenstein in Baghdad. Taught in English. This course originates in Arabic and is crosslisted with: Middle Eastern & North African. (Same as: ARBC 2038)

Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester

Millennium-old interactions between peoples of Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia forged cosmopolitan and diverse civilizations stretching from Mogadishu to Madagascar. As with recent phases of globalization, these older cosmopolitan civilizations created landscapes of inequality. This course considers how interactions between different peoples contributed to structures of power and privilege in the history of East Africa. Themes covered include: dhow-based maritime trade across the Indian Ocean; coastal Swahili civilizations; empires such as Axum, Ethiopia and Great Zimbabwe; the spread of Islam; the slave trade and slavery; concubinage and gender-based hierarchies; and Omani, Portuguese, British, Italian, and German colonialisms. Concludes with late colonial conflicts including the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya; the revolution in Zanzibari; post-colonial states; and rebel Islamic insurgencies from Mozambique to Somalia. This course originates in History and is crosslisted with: Africana Studies; Middle Eastern & North African. (Same as: HIST 2825, AFRS 2375)

Investigates transformations in practices, definitions, and institutions of Islamic education in the aftermath of colonialism. Considers the question of religious authority and how changes in education, technology, and communications in the twentieth century expanded how Islamic knowledge was interpreted and transmitted. Reflects on the relationship between religious and secular knowledge, the role of the modern state and religious scholars, the rise of Muslim reform movements, and the question of gender. Begins with an examination of the evolution of Muslim education in the formative, medieval and early modern periods. Case studies include Egypt, South Asia, Iran, Yemen, and Morocco. This course originates in Middle Eastern and North African Studies and is crosslisted with: Education. (Same as: EDUC 2366)

Terms offered: 2025 Fall Semester

Investigates classical and contemporary sociological accounts of secularism, modernity, and capitalism by examining the social and political history of Turkey. Analyzes the emergence of modern Turkey, a successor state of the Ottoman Empire, which spanned three continents and was dismantled at the end of World War I. Maps out Turkey's social, political, and economic landscape from the late nineteenth century until the present. Covers themes such as state violence, religion, hegemony, gender and sexuality, nationalism, and neoliberalism. This course originates in Sociology and is crosslisted with: Middle Eastern & North African. (Same as: SOC 2260)

Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester

Today, camps and prisons are thought of as distinct and separate forms. How might we think of mass incarceration and mass migration together? What might a region like the Middle East and North Africa add to such an inquiry? Situates the region within wider global regimes of movement control by tracking the entangled history of camps and prisons. Centers the struggles and modes of expression of the detained and encamped. Topics include the emergence of camp and penal forms, humanitarianism and refugeehood, migrant workers and dispossession, environmental history and urbanization, partition and race. Engages prison writing and memoir, aesthetic practices, and film making. This course originates in Arabic and is crosslisted with: Urban Studies. (Same as: URBS 2210)

Terms offered: 2023 Spring Semester; 2024 Fall Semester

What is settler colonialism today? How is that what we call settler colonialism understood both as something that has passed or been overcome and at the same time something enduring, even expanding again? What is about settler colonial histories that makes them not only fraught, but also seemingly unfinished and unsettled? What might this have to do with the persistence of forms of racialization in our political lives? How, in other words, should a global history of the idea of race account for settler colonialism? We will answer these questions with readings that address the connected questions of race, property, and land. Focuses on the Middle East and North Africa, particularly Palestine and Algeria. Locates both these sites within a comparative global history.

Terms offered: 2022 Fall Semester; 2024 Spring Semester

Explores gender politics surrounding the regions of North Africa and the Middle East at multiple scales. Investigates the geopolitics of gender as related to militarism and international development. Considers the emergence and course of feminism in countries of these regions. Delves into masculinity studies and the politics of how masculinity is represented, experienced, and performed. Course themes include modernity, mobility, reproduction, consumption, Islam, social movements, and urban contexts. This course originates in Anthropology and is crosslisted with: Middle Eastern & North African. (Same as: ANTH 2156)

Terms offered: 2024 Spring Semester

Investigates how Arab-majority societies today grapple with gender and sexual difference in the pursuit of more just futures. Examines contentious areas of scholarly, activist, and humanitarian intervention, including honor crimes, LGBTQ rights, linguistic self-determination, and gender/sexuality-based forced migration. Problematizes how gender and sexuality reinforce dominant representations of the Arab world and other power-laden constructs of social difference. Features ethnographic and theoretical texts, covering key concepts in MENA gender/sexuality studies, like homo-nationalism and pinkwashing. May include virtual discussions with Arab queer activists working in the region or diaspora. (Same as: GSWS 2226)

Terms offered: 2025 Fall Semester

Analyzing the intersection of politics and multiple expressions of Islam in both state governments and transnational movements, studies Islam as a social, ethical, and political force in the modern era. Offers a basic introduction to Muslim history and the Islamic religion, explores various Islamic social and political movements, analyzes contending understandings of the interaction between politics and Islam, as well as investigating the tensions between the Islamic and western political traditions, including democracy and Islam. Relying on texts from influential revolutionaries such as Qutb and Khomeini as well as perspectives on political Islam from academic scholars, explores the heart of politics, society, and religion in the modern Muslim world. This course originates in Government and Legal Studies and is crosslisted with: Middle Eastern & North African. (Same as: GOV 2690)

Terms offered: 2021 Fall Semester; 2024 Fall Semester

This seminar explores the various institutions of slavery in the North African and Middle Eastern (MENA) region beginning with the trans-Saharan slave trade, and ending with the contemporary manifestations of slave markets in Libya. Students will examine the theoretical definitions of slavery as they confront the range of paradigms that existed for slave systems. Slavery existed in varying contexts such as the royal courts in the case of eunuchs in Ottoman courts, in the Janissary army in Egypt with “voluntary” conscript soldiers, and in varying socio-economic classes in North Africa, where slave owners considered slaves “members of the family.” Students will grapple with: the implications of, and association with, an “African” identity for descendants of slaves; the application of an “African diasporic” lens to this group and region; and the ways in which the legacy of slavery shapes the experiences of recent sub-Saharan Africans within these contexts. Note: This course is part of the following field(s) of study: African and African Diaspora. It fulfills the non-Euro requirement for history majors and minors. This course originates in History and is crosslisted with: Africana Studies; Middle Eastern & North African. (Same as: HIST 2911, AFRS 2911)

Seminar. Provides insight into contemporary film production from the Maghreb (Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco). Explores questions of gender and sexuality, national identity, political conflict, and post- and neo-colonial relationships in the context of globalization and in conditions of political repression and rigid moral conservatism. Examines how filmmakers such as Lakhdar Hamina, Férid Boughedir, Moufida Tlatli, Nedir Moknèche, Malek Bensmaïl, Lyès Salem, Hicham Ayoub, and Leyla Bouzid work in a challenging socio-economic context of film production in consideration of setbacks and obstacles specific to the developing world. Taught in French. This course originates in Romance Languages and Literatures and is crosslisted with: Cinema Studies. (Same as: FRS 3216, CINE 3352)

What is decolonization? What might decolonization still be? It is hard from the vantage point of our present to appreciate the extraordinary political hope that once was the promise of decolonization. And it is harder still to think about what kind of place in our present that promise might still have. To think through this question, this seminar course takes up the anticolonial tradition as a universal and world-making body of thought and practice that once challenged the very foundations of knowledge. This course will introduce students to the classics of anticolonial thought, and we’ll think together about what kind of relevance they still carry in the present. This course originates in Arabic and is crosslisted with: Africana Studies. (Same as: AFRS 3222)

Terms offered: 2023 Fall Semester; 2025 Spring Semester

Analyzes the depiction of the Algerian War of Independence in Algerian and French novels and films, drawing on trauma, postcolonial and decolonial theories. The Algerian War of Independence lasted nearly eight years (1954–62), cost between one million and one and a half million lives, saw atrocities like the use of torture by the French army and remained an obscure part of the national history of both Algeria and France. Algerian and French writers and filmmakers depict this war differently. Adopting a chronological and comparative approach to the representations of the conflict in Algeria and France, this seminar follows the various phases behind the construction of the collective memory of the Algerian War of Independence in each country. From state censorship, trauma, melancholic renderings of the past and nationalist appropriations of history, Algerian and French writers and filmmakers confront distinct problematics. This course originates in Romance Languages and Literatures and is crosslisted with: Middle Eastern & North African. (Same as: FRS 3223)

Terms offered: 2022 Spring Semester; 2025 Spring Semester