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Scroll down for a complete list of lectures, seminars, and language classes.
Lectures and Seminars
MDES UN1001, Critical Theory: A Global Perspective, Prof. Hamid Dabashi
The purpose of this foundational course is to introduce Columbia undergraduate students, in the context of their Global Core curriculum, to the seminal field of critical theory. The historical domain of this course is within the last century and its geographical spectrum is global. European critical thinkers are included in this course but not privileged. Thinkers from Asia, Africa, Europe, North, South, and Latin America, are examined here in chronological order and in equal democratic footing with each other. This course as a result is decidedly cross-cultural, one step forward towards de-alienating critical thinkers from around the globe and the issues they address without pigeonholing them as something “other” or “different.” On our planet we are facing an environmental calamity. We can no longer afford provincial privileging of one content or another.
AHUM UN1399 001 Asian Humanities, Prof. Mana Kia
Readings in translation and discussion of texts of Middle Eastern and Indian origin. Readings may include the Quran, Islamic philosophy, Sufi poetry, the Upanishads, Buddhist sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, Indian epics and drama, and Gandhi’s Autobiography.
MDES UN3331 001 Urban Space & Conflict, Khatchig Mouradian
This course explores how civil war, revolution, militarization, mass violence, refugee crises, and terrorism impact urban spaces, and how city dwellers engage in urban resilience, negotiate and attempt to reclaim their right to the city. Through case studies of Beirut (1975-present), Baghdad (2003-present), Cairo (2011-present), Diyarbakir (1914-present), Aleppo (1914-present), and Jerusalem (1914-present), this course traces how urban life adjusted to destruction (and post-conflict reconstruction), violence, and anarchy; how neighborhoods were reshaped; and how local ethnic, religious, and political dynamics played out in these cities and metropolises. Relying on multi-disciplinary and post-disciplinary scholarship, and employing a wealth of audiovisual material, literary works, and interviews conducted by the instructor, the course scrutinizes how conflicts have impacted urban life in the Middle East, and how civilians react to, confront, and resist militarization in urban spaces.
GU4154 001 Pan-Africanism, Mamadou Diouf
“Pan Africanist” ideologies were very diverse from Garveyism, Negritude to the various African America, Caribbean and African discourses of “neo-pharaohnism” and “Ethiopianism.” This seminar explores how Black leaders, intellectuals, and artists chose to imagine Black (Africans and people of African descent) as a global community from the late 19th century to the present. It examines their attempts to chart a course of race, modernity, and emancipation in unstable and changing geographies of empire, nation, and state. Particular attention will be given to manifestations identified as their common history and destiny and how such a distinctive historical experience has created a unique body of reflections on and cultural productions about modernity, religion, class, gender, and sexuality, in a context of domination and oppression.
MDES GU4399 001 Literature of the Great War, Khatchig Mouradian
Some of the best-known literary texts of the previous century harken back to the Great War. And while works of fiction and non-fiction such as Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, and Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway have become twentieth-century classics; and the poetry of Brooke, Graves, Gurney, Owen, and Sassoon widely celebrated; the Middle East’s contribution to the literature of the Great War is little explored. This course takes us on a literary journey from the trenches of Gallipoli and Mesopotamia, to famine-struck towns of Mount Lebanon, to orphanages in Syria. We will examine poetry (including zajal—colloquial poetry), and memoirs and diaries by the women and men who withstood the ravages of war and helped shape the modern Middle East. Through close reading and content analysis of a diverse constellation of published and unpublished texts, and using secondary sources as guideposts, we will explore “post-Ottoman memoirs” and verse, including translations from the Arabic and Armenian by the instructor.
Language Classes
MDES UN1210 001 First Year Arabic I, Prof. Ouijdane Absi
An introduction to the language of classical and modern Arabic literature. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.MDES UN1211 First Year Arabic II, Rym Bettaieb
Prerequisites: First Year Arabic I or instructor permission. An introduction to the language of classical and modern Arabic literature. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.MDES UN2201, Second Year Arabic I, Prof. Ouijdane Absi
Prerequisites: MDES W1210-W1211 or the equivalent. A continuation of the study of the language of contemporary writing. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
MDES UN2202, Second Year Arabic II, Prof. May Ahmar
Prerequisites: MDES W1210-W1211 or the equivalent. A continuation of the study of the language of contemporary writing. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
MDES GU4213, Fourth Year Modern Arabic II, Prof. Taoufik Ben-Amor
Through reading articles and essays by Arab thinkers and intellectuals, students will be able to increase their fluency and accuracy in Arabic while working on reading text and being exposed to the main themes in Arab thought The course works with all four skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Arabic is the language of instruction. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
MDES GU4216, Advanced Arabic Grammar: Prof. Taoufik Ben-Amor
Through reading and writing, students will review Arabic Grammar concepts within the context of linguistic functions such as narration, description, comparison, etc. For example, within the function of narration, students will focus on verb tenses, word order, and adverbials. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
MDES GU4219, Spoken Arabic II, Prof. May Ahmar
This is an introductory course to Levantine Arabic for students who have completed two years of Standard Arabic studies, at the Intermediate level. The course is designed to further develop fluency in oral communication, through building students’ familiarity with a less formal register of Arabic, namely the Levantine dialect. The course will convert and recycle some of the previous Standard Arabic knowledge to the dialect, by comparing their prior knowledge to its dialectal counterpart; while at the same time developing students’ new communicative skills in a diverse range of contexts that are essential in any conversational interaction. The course will build students’ abilities to interact effectively in various areas where Levantine Arabic is spoken. In addition to varied thematic topics, the course exposes students to cultural aspects specific to the region. Additionally, the course will work on both constructing students’ knowledge of dialectal diction as well as other grammatical features of the dialects. Even though the course is designed for communication in the four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking), the emphasis will be mostly on speaking and listening. No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
MDES UN1502, First Year Hebrew II, Daniel Katz-Shenhar
Prerequisites: MDES UN1501, or the equivalent, based on performance on the placement test. Continued introduction to Hebrew, with equal emphasis on all languages skills. (See MDES UN1501.) No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.
MDES UN2502, Second Year Hebrew II, Prof. Daniel Katz-Shenhar
Prerequisites: Second Year Hebrew: Intermediate I or instructor permission. Equal emphasis is given to all language skills. Irregular categories of the Hebrew verb, prepositions and syntax are taught systematically. Vocabulary building. Daily homework includes grammar exercises, short answers, reading, or writing short compositions. Frequent vocabulary and grammar quizzes. (Students completing this course fulfill Columbia College and Barnard language requirement.) No P/D/F or R credit is allowed for this class.