Undergraduate Courses

Spring 2009

PLEASE NOTE: This information is subject to change prior to the beginning of registration, so please verify your course selections against the University Bulletin listings.

Also, this listing does not include Arabic or Hebrew language classes, or classes that may count towards Professional Specialization Field requirements.

Contact Rhea Myerscough if you have any questions about the course offerings.

Foundational

IAFF 096 - Islam, Culture and Society

Other

IAFF 188.10 - Comparative Authority in the Middle East

IAFF 188.11 - Advanced Readings in Arab Politics

IAFF 188.13 - US Policy in the Gulf

IAFF 188.14 - Gender and Politics in the Middle East

IAFF 190W.15 - Arab-Israeli Conflict

IAFF 191.11 - Senior Seminar: Political Islam

IAFF191.13 - Senior Seminar: The Middle East

PSC 176 -����The Arab-Israeli Conflict

PSC 177 - Governments and Politics of the Middle East

PSC 178 - International Relations of the Middle East

PSC 190.10 - Gender and Terrorism

PSC 190.11 - Terrorism and Counter Terrorism

PSC 192W.10 - Advanced Israeli Politics

HIS 101.12 - The Arab- Israeli Conflict

HIS 101.15 - Modern Iraq and Iran

HIS 108.80 - History of Ancient Israel

HIS 161.10 - The History of Israel

REL 163.10 - Islamic Religion and Art

REL 190.16 - Islamic Political Thought

REL 771.10 - Persian Sufi Literature

CLAS 101.10 - Modern Hebrew Literary Classics

CLAS 103.10 - Arab Film and Culture

CLAS 105.12 - Post Colonial Readings in Modern Arabic Literature

CLAS 105.13 - Introduction to Arabic Translation

CLAS 118.80 - History of Ancient Israel

Foundational

IAFF 096 - Islam, Culture and Society
Iskander
R  7:10 p.m. - 9:40 p.m.
Spring 2008 Syllabus
This course will serve as an introduction to Islam, both as a transnational religious tradition of capital importance and as a way of thinking about a great world civilization. We will thus run from the 7th century CE to the era of modernity, and from the Arabo-Islamic heartlands to India.
Objectives: to be able to identify keep geographic, historical, religious and cultural moments in Islamic history; to be able to identify ways that this civilization has a historical and cultural continuity and unity, while also understanding some of its complexity and diversity; to begin to see the ways that Islamic and Western civilizations are part of a complex but related narrative.
PLEASE NOTE: Registration for this class will be restricted for the first few weeks of registration, in order to allow all Middle East Studies majors who need to take the class to register for it.
If you are a Middle East Studies major, you will need to stop by the Institute for Middle East Studies (Suite 512 at ESIA) to have Rhea Myerscough sign you into the class.
If you are not a Middle East Studies major, but are interested in the class, please email mesp@gwu.edu to have your name added to the list of students that will be permitted to register for the class after MES students have registered.

Other

IAFF 188.10 - Comparative Authority in the Middle East
Kiamie
T 7:10 p.m. - 9:40 p.m.

IAFF 188.11 - Advanced Readings in Arab Politics
Kiamie
R 7:10 p.m. - 9:40 p.m.

IAFF 188.13 - US Policy in the Gulf
Gnehm
TR 9:35 a.m. - 10:50 a.m.
Spring 2008 Syllabus

IAFF 188.14 - Gender and Politics in the Middle East
W 12:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

IAFF 190W.15 - Arab-Israeli Conflict
Friedman
T 12:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

IAFF 191.11 - Senior Seminar: Political Islam
Kavakci
W 7:10 p.m. - 9:40 p.m.

IAFF191.13 - Senior Seminar: The Middle East
Friedman
R 12:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.

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PSC 176 - The Arab-Israeli Conflict
Reich
TR 2:20 p.m. - 3:35 p.m.

PSC 177- Governments and Politics of the Middle East
Taft
TR 1:00 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.

PSC 178 - International Relations of the Middle East
Lynch
MW 12:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

PSC 190.10 - Gender and Terrorism
Berko
TR 9:35 a.m. - 10:50 a.m.

PSC 190.11 - Terrorism and Counter Terrorism
Berko
T 11:10 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

PSC 192W. 10 - Advanced Israeli Politics
Reich
R 11:10 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

HIS 101.12 - The Arab- Israeli Conflict
Winston
TR 11:10 a.m. - 12:25 p.m.
The History of the Arab-Israeli conflict is an upper-level overview of the history of the Zionist and Palestinians national movements, the State of Israel, and the Palestinian Authority. It will emphasize contemporary political, military, and diplomatic aspects of the conflict, concentrating on the Israeli-Palestinian axis with some attention devoted to the roles of the United States and Israel's Arab neighbors. The course does not focus exclusively on diplomacy and international relations but also explores the internal political, social and cultural developments in Israel and Palestine that have conditioned the dispute and the prospects for breaking the current stalemate. A previous course on some aspect of Middle Eastern history, politics, or religion is strongly recommended but not required.

HIS 101.15 - Modern Iraq and Iran
Winston
TR 2:20 p.m. - 3:35 p.m.
This is an upper level lecture course devoted to the modern history of two Middle Eastern countries with which the United States has had a long, complicated, and often conflictive relationship: Iran and Iraq. The thrust of the course, however, is on understanding the recent historical development of both countries on their own terms, rather than primarily as entities that have sparred with Washington. Emphasis is on the 20th century experience: Iraq since its creation after World War I and Iran since the Constitutional Revolution of 1905. Although the prime focus is on political developments, there is ample coverage of cultural, religious and economic trends. Particular stress is placed on ethnic and religious fissures, the development of national identities, the process of modernization and state-building, the emergence of authoritarian governments, and the growth of political Islam in both countries. A previous course on some aspect of Middle Eastern history, politics, or religion is strongly recommended but not required.

HIS 108.80 - The History of Ancient Israel
Schwartz
M 2:20 p.m. - 3:35 p.m.
W 3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
The history of ancient Israel from the Patriarchs through the Romans. Topics include historical, archaeological, political, social, cultural, religious, diplomatic, military, economic, and intellectual events, movements, and relationships.

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HIS 161.10 - The History of Israel
Cline
TR 14:20 p.m. - 15:35 p.m.

REL 163.10 - Islamic Religion and Art
Faghfoory
TR 3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

REL 190.16 - Islamic Political Thought
Faghfoory
TR 9:35 a.m. - 10:50 a.m.

REL 771.10 - Persian Sufi Literature
Nasr
TR 11:10 a.m. - 12:25 p.m.

CLAS 101.10 - Modern Hebrew Literary Classics
Ticktin
TR 12:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

CLAS 103.10 - Arab Film and Culture
Esseesy
TR 11:10 a.m. - 12:25 p.m.
This course is as much a study of the Arab cinema as an institution and industry whose product is film, as it is a study of the Arab culture represented in the film itself. In covering such massive ground, this course studies the Arab cinema from a historical perspective and analyzes film genres along with cinematic themes.
It is expected that students in this class would develop an understanding of the origins and development of Arab national cinema; successfully read and interpret the film for its artistic and cultural value; and develop an understanding of patterns, codes and conventions in cinematic expression of culture across time and space

CLAS 105.12 - Post Colonial Readings in Modern Arabic Literature
Al Dubbati
TR 2:20 p.m. - 3:35 p.m.
dubbati@gwu.edu
Course open to graduate, undergraduate, and non-degree students
The main focus of the course will be the literary and cinematic representation of gender and sexuality in the context of defining individual nationalisms in Arab countries. The selected texts and movies will shed light on the ways in which Arab writers and moviemakers dealt with postcolonial themes, such as the nationalization of political and cultural identities and gender. We will examine the effects of European colonialism on the social structures of Arab societies and the development of nationalisms.
We will look at the representation of the Arab woman and her sexuality as the contentious site of conflicting forces of self-definition and identification and the struggle between nation-state reality and the nostalgia for pre-colonial pan-Arabism. The course will also explore the ways in which the nationalization of the female body and the family have complicated the division between private and public spheres.

CLAS 105. 13 - Introduction to Arabic Translation
M 12:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. and W 12:45 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

CLAS 118.80 - History of Ancient Israel
Cline
TR 2:20 p.m. - 3:35 p.m.

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