At the end of this beginning intermediate course, students will have read a wide variety of classical and modern Persian texts both in prose and poetry. Therefore, you will be able to read, write, understand and speak about a variety of literary, historical, cultural and journalistic topics with relative ease.

How have nature and the environment shaped the history of the Middle East? Highlighting the importance of climate, water, physical geography, natural disasters and disease the course examines the complex relationship between human societies and the environment. (Gen. Ed. HS, DG)

Not available at this time.

By the end of the semester students will have reached beginning proficiency in Persian, which means they will be able to recognize and read the Persian alphabet; initiate and maintain predictable face-to-face rudimentary conversations and satisfy limited social demand; create sentences related to some survival needs, personal history, daily life, etc.; read simple material such as announcements of public events, simple prose containing biographical information or narration of events, and straightforward newspaper headlines; understand short conversations about all survival needs and limited so

This course is a basic, interdisciplinary introduction to the contemporary Middle East, and uses three substances central to contemporary society as organizing metaphors for issues that help define the region that stretches from Morocco to Iran. We consider a wide range of topics including the modern legacy of Western colonialism in the region, the impact of oil, the roles of religion, gender politics, Arab-Israeli conflicts, and US policies towards the region. Satisfies the modern 100-level requirement for the Middle Eastern Studies major. (Gen. Ed. SB, DG)

This class investigates what it meant to live an Islamic life in the pre-industrial Middle East, 600-1800 CE. The course investigates whether categorizing Islam as a religion, a civilization, culture, or a discourse is adequate for understanding its lived complexities. (Gen. Ed. HS, DG)