Samer Ali

This course is a colloquium for PhD students with an advanced knowledge of Arabic. It will focus on medieval Arabic narrative and storytelling. This course will examine classical Arabic prose from the perspective of the individual Akhbar or story, which was the basic unit of knowledge for all humanities (adab) works, be they history (tarikh), geography (buldan), zoology (hayawan), cosmology (makhluqat), or anthropology (al-umam wal-nas). We will examine a wide variety of akhbar and the performance venues, such as literary salons (mujalasat) in homes, libraries, monasteries, gardens and courts. Because of this complexity of face-to-face performance aided by written manuscripts, the course will inevitably investigate how the interplay of oral and written modes of literary communication helped to form a new cultural knowledge. Taught in Arabic. 

Texts

To be provided by instructor. 

Grading

To be provided by instructor.

This course provides students an introduction to the Arabian Nights in English translation. The Arabian Nights [i.e., The 1001 Nights] is perhaps the most visible piece of world literature, and the most example of Arabic literature in the West. The frame story centers on Shahrazad who tells stories to save her life from the hands of the deranged King, Shahzaman. The narrative brings fear, madness and sex under the same roof giving the frame story – and every story – an exquisite dramatic intensity. Students will have an opportunity to read and discuss major stories on a regular basis and identify the structure of narratives and the social functions of storytellers. We will also explore one of the major functions of those stories: to expose and redress built in tensions in society, such as the tension between individual desires and society’s expectations, as well as the need for heroes but the love of equality. In addition, we will focus on medieval religious beliefs toward sacred kings, saints, death, madness, and love as they emerge in the imaginative world of the nights. The course will end with a glimpse of how the Nights was used by Western authors, such as Boccaccio, Irwin, Borges and E. A. Poe. 

Texts

Dawood, Tales form the Thousand and One Nights, Haddawy, The Arabian Nights, Irwin, A Companion, Poe, The Thousand-And-Second Tale of Scherherazade, Borges, The Thousand and One Nights.

Grading

In Class Participation 20%, 6 BB Questions 20%, Response papers (best 6 of 7) 40%, Analysis paper 20%.

This course provides students an introduction to the Arabian Nights in English translation. The Arabian Nights [i.e., The 1001 Nights] is perhaps the most visible piece of world literature, and the most example of Arabic literature in the West. The frame story centers on Shahrazad who tells stories to save her life from the hands of the deranged King, Shahzaman. The narrative brings fear, madness and sex under the same roof giving the frame story – and every story – an exquisite dramatic intensity. Students will have an opportunity to read and discuss major stories on a regular basis and identify the structure of narratives and the social functions of storytellers. We will also explore one of the major functions of those stories: to expose and redress built in tensions in society, such as the tension between individual desires and society’s expectations, as well as the need for heroes but the love of equality. In addition, we will focus on medieval religious beliefs toward sacred kings, saints, death, madness, and love as they emerge in the imaginative world of the nights. The course will end with a glimpse of how the Nights was used by Western authors, such as Boccaccio, Irwin, Borges and E. A. Poe. 

Texts

Dawood, Tales form the Thousand and One Nights, Haddawy, The Arabian Nights, Irwin, A Companion, Poe, The Thousand-And-Second Tale of Scherherazade, Borges, The Thousand and One Nights.

Grading

In Class Participation 20%, 6 BB Questions 20%, Response papers (best 6 of 7) 40%, Analysis paper 20%.

This course provides students an introduction to the Arabian Nights in English translation. The Arabian Nights [i.e., The 1001 Nights] is perhaps the most visible piece of world literature, and the most example of Arabic literature in the West. The frame story centers on Shahrazad who tells stories to save her life from the hands of the deranged King, Shahzaman. The narrative brings fear, madness and sex under the same roof giving the frame story – and every story – an exquisite dramatic intensity. Students will have an opportunity to read and discuss major stories on a regular basis and identify the structure of narratives and the social functions of storytellers. We will also explore one of the major functions of those stories: to expose and redress built in tensions in society, such as the tension between individual desires and society’s expectations, as well as the need for heroes but the love of equality. In addition, we will focus on medieval religious beliefs toward sacred kings, saints, death, madness, and love as they emerge in the imaginative world of the nights. The course will end with a glimpse of how the Nights was used by Western authors, such as Boccaccio, Irwin, Borges and E. A. Poe. 

Texts

Dawood, Tales form the Thousand and One Nights, Haddawy, The Arabian Nights, Irwin, A Companion, Poe, The Thousand-And-Second Tale of Scherherazade, Borges, The Thousand and One Nights.

Grading

In Class Participation 20%, 6 BB Questions 20%, Response papers (best 6 of 7) 40%, Analysis paper 20%.

This course is a colloquium for PhD students with an advanced knowledge of Arabic. It will focus on medieval Arabic narrative and storytelling. This course will examine classical Arabic prose from the perspective of the individual Akhbar or story, which was the basic unit of knowledge for all humanities (adab) works, be they history (tarikh), geography (buldan), zoology (hayawan), cosmology (makhluqat), or anthropology (al-umam wal-nas). We will examine a wide variety of akhbar and the performance venues, such as literary salons (mujalasat) in homes, libraries, monasteries, gardens and courts. Because of this complexity of face-to-face performance aided by written manuscripts, the course will inevitably investigate how the interplay of oral and written modes of literary communication helped to form a new cultural knowledge. Taught in Arabic. 

Texts

To be provided by instructor. 

Grading

To be provided by instructor.

The "clash of civilizations" paradigm has promoted a vision of Arabic and European cultures that presumes an us-them dichotomy and imposes the language of segregation and incompatibility, which plays into the hands of fanatics. This graduate seminar focuses on the trans-Mediterranean as a zone of co-creative inter-connectivity, competition and cooperation going back to antiquity.  The purpose of this course is not to somehow "naturalize" Arabic culture by examining connections to blessed Europe. To the contrary, it is to fundamentally re-imagine the categories of "the West" and "the Arab," and to show how the concept of "civilization," with it implications of exclusive and coherent continuity, has limited utility as a unit of analysis, if you are researching opportunistic and promiscuous exchanges of the Med-zone, particularly in Andalusia and medieval Arabic Sicily. Students will also have the chance to examine French and English representations of "Saracens," the rise of Arabophilia and orientalism, plus the seismic reception of the _Arabian Nights_ in Europe. Conduced primarily in Arabic.

Course Description

The Arabian Nights [i.e., The 1001 Nights] is perhaps the most visible piece of world literature, and probably the most famous example of Arabic literature in the West. This course provides students an introduction to the Arabian Nights in translation. The narrative brings fear, madness and sex under the same roof giving the frame story – and every story – an exquisite dramatic intensity. Students will have an opportunity to read and discuss major stories on a regular basis and identify the structure of narratives and the social functions of storytellers. In addition, we will focus on medieval Arabic literary attitudes toward death, magic, madness, and love as they emerge in the imaginative world of the Nights. Because of the Nights' tension between the sacred and the profane, students will also explore the ways that the stories critique orthodox Islamic beliefs and practices. The course will end with a glimpse of at how the Nights was used by Western authors, such as Boccaccio, Irwin, Barth and E. A. Poe. 

Texts & Grading

To be provided by instructor.

To be provided by instructor.

Course Description

The Arabian Nights [i.e., The 1001 Nights] is perhaps the most visible piece of world literature, and probably the most famous example of Arabic literature in the West. This course provides students an introduction to the Arabian Nights in translation. The narrative brings fear, madness and sex under the same roof giving the frame story – and every story – an exquisite dramatic intensity. Students will have an opportunity to read and discuss major stories on a regular basis and identify the structure of narratives and the social functions of storytellers. In addition, we will focus on medieval Arabic literary attitudes toward death, magic, madness, and love as they emerge in the imaginative world of the Nights. Because of the Nights' tension between the sacred and the profane, students will also explore the ways that the stories critique orthodox Islamic beliefs and practices. The course will end with a glimpse of at how the Nights was used by Western authors, such as Boccaccio, Irwin, Barth and E. A. Poe. 

Texts & Grading

To be provided by instructor.

To be provided by instructor.

This course is a colloquium for PhD students with an advanced knowledge of Arabic. It will focus on medieval Arabic narrative and storytelling. This course will examine classical Arabic prose from the perspective of the individual Akhbar or story, which was the basic unit of knowledge for all humanities (adab) works, be they history (tarikh), geography (buldan), zoology (hayawan), cosmology (makhluqat), or anthropology (al-umam wal-nas). We will examine a wide variety of akhbar and the performance venues, such as literary salons (mujalasat) in homes, libraries, monasteries, gardens and courts. Because of this complexity of face-to-face performance aided by written manuscripts, the course will inevitably investigate how the interplay of oral and written modes of literary communication helped to form a new cultural knowledge. Taught in Arabic. 

Texts

To be provided by instructor. 

Grading

To be provided by instructor. 

This course is a colloquium for PhD students with an advanced knowledge of Arabic. It will focus on medieval Arabic narrative and storytelling. This course will examine classical Arabic prose from the perspective of the individual Akhbar or story, which was the basic unit of knowledge for all humanities (adab) works, be they history (tarikh), geography (buldan), zoology (hayawan), cosmology (makhluqat), or anthropology (al-umam wal-nas). We will examine a wide variety of akhbar and the performance venues, such as literary salons (mujalasat) in homes, libraries, monasteries, gardens and courts. Because of this complexity of face-to-face performance aided by written manuscripts, the course will inevitably investigate how the interplay of oral and written modes of literary communication helped to form a new cultural knowledge. Taught in Arabic. 

Texts

To be provided by instructor. 

Grading

To be provided by instructor. 

In this course, we will study the religion of Islam through its sacred text, the Qur’an. To this end, this course will entail extensive reading of the Qur’an itself, as well as of other texts. In our studies, we will focus on the following themes of the Qur’an: cosmology (eg God, human nature, satan, and the afterlife), ethical principles, ritual prescriptions, and legal injunctions. We will also examine some of the prominent symbols, images and rhetorical structures of the Qur’an. Through reading the prophetic narratives, we will have an opportunity to compare Qur’anic and Biblical accounts of the major prophets shared by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The syllabus also includes an inquiry into role of the Qur’an in Muslim devotion and as a medium for artistic expression. We will also discuss the tradition of interpretation (or “exegesis”), especially as it pertains to those verses that engender the most debate today: those surrounding politics, intercommunal (i.e. interreligious) relations, and gender. Prior knowledge of Islam is helpful but not required for this course.

In this course, we will study the religion of Islam through its sacred text, the Qur’an. To this end, this course will entail extensive reading of the Qur’an itself, as well as of other texts. In our studies, we will focus on the following themes of the Qur’an: cosmology (eg God, human nature, satan, and the afterlife), ethical principles, ritual prescriptions, and legal injunctions. We will also examine some of the prominent symbols, images and rhetorical structures of the Qur’an. Through reading the prophetic narratives, we will have an opportunity to compare Qur’anic and Biblical accounts of the major prophets shared by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The syllabus also includes an inquiry into role of the Qur’an in Muslim devotion and as a medium for artistic expression. We will also discuss the tradition of interpretation (or “exegesis”), especially as it pertains to those verses that engender the most debate today: those surrounding politics, intercommunal (i.e. interreligious) relations, and gender. Prior knowledge of Islam is helpful but not required for this course.

In this course, we will study the religion of Islam through its sacred text, the Qur’an. To this end, this course will entail extensive reading of the Qur’an itself, as well as of other texts. In our studies, we will focus on the following themes of the Qur’an: cosmology (eg God, human nature, satan, and the afterlife), ethical principles, ritual prescriptions, and legal injunctions. We will also examine some of the prominent symbols, images and rhetorical structures of the Qur’an. Through reading the prophetic narratives, we will have an opportunity to compare Qur’anic and Biblical accounts of the major prophets shared by Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The syllabus also includes an inquiry into role of the Qur’an in Muslim devotion and as a medium for artistic expression. We will also discuss the tradition of interpretation (or “exegesis”), especially as it pertains to those verses that engender the most debate today: those surrounding politics, intercommunal (i.e. interreligious) relations, and gender. Prior knowledge of Islam is helpful but not required for this course.

This Arabic literature course will be taught in Arabic. The Thousand and One Nights remains perhaps the most famous piece of world literature. The Nights were first introduced to the west in the early 1700s and has inspired generations of storytellers, playwrights, musicians, dancers, television writers and filmmakers since on every continent. The most captivating aspects of the Nights lie in its heroine, Shahrazad, who saves the entire kingdom by healing a mad king with her stories about characters who change their circumstances and save lives with stories. The power of language to heal and transform remains an inspiration. This course will offer advanced students of Arabic an opportunity to read and discuss Shahrazad's frame-story as well as some of the most influential framed stories, such as Aladdin, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, and Sindbad, in Arabic. In addition, the course will expose students to methods of interpreting narrative in society, such as ritual theory, performance issues, ideas about impromptu composition, and transmission.

Grading Policy

Attendance/Discussion 30% Response Papers (best 6 of 8) 60% Oral Presentation in Arabic 10%

Texts

Alf Layla wa Layla (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-'Illmiyyah)

Course Description

This is a graduate seminar designed to give students of Arabic, Religious Studies and Comparative Literature a broad survey of major novelistic texts in Arabic, with comparisons of novelistic narratives from around the Mediterranean, including Italian, French and Spanish. While Arabic is essential to the course, students are encouraged to work in other languages they know. Theoretical works will receive secondary importance because of time and course priorities, thus students will gain extensive exposure to primary texts of novels and their narrative precursors.

The goal of this course is to re-conceive Eurocentric triumphalist meanings of “genre” and “novel” and to posit local nodes of meaning in a trans-Mediterranean network of artistry. By doing so, we can begin to appreciate how the works of trans-Mediterranean artists gain authority and authenticity not from cultural isolation or purity, but from unfettered exchange with other nodes of production and meaning. To do so, we will read selections from The 1001 Nights, Hayy b. Yaqzan, Tayf al-Khayal, Tarikh al-Tabari, Muruj al-Dhahab, and Maqamat al-Hariri, Gesta Romanorum, Boccaccio’s Decameron, Queen Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptaméron, Cervantes’s Don Quixote and Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and examine the ways that these narratives inter-activate one another and serve as mimetic resources for later storytellers and novelists on both sides of the Mediterranean spurring competitive artistry in extended plot structures, characters complexity, critiques of society and dogmas, and the multi-vocal plurality of the modern novel.

Prerequisites: Graduate Standing and ARA 320L, 420L and 120D, or 531L.

Requirements: Weekly readings and writing assignments. Weekly discussions in Arabic, class participation, and four essays (3pp).

Grading: Four Essays 60%, Writing Assignments 20%, Discussion 20%

Text: Selections from The 1001 Nights, Hayy b. Yaqzan, Tayf al-Khayal, Tarikh al-Tabari, Muruj al-Dhahab, and Maqamat al-Hariri, Gesta Romanorum, Boccaccio’s Decameron, Queen Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptaméron, Cervantes’s Don Quixote, Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, Muwaylihi’s Hadith Isa Ibn Hisham, Haykal’s Zaynab.

Course Description

This is a graduate seminar designed to give students of Arabic, Religious Studies and Comparative Literature a broad survey of major novelistic texts in Arabic, with comparisons of novelistic narratives from around the Mediterranean, including Italian, French and Spanish. While Arabic is essential to the course, students are encouraged to work in other languages they know. Theoretical works will receive secondary importance because of time and course priorities, thus students will gain extensive exposure to primary texts of novels and their narrative precursors.

The goal of this course is to re-conceive Eurocentric triumphalist meanings of “genre” and “novel” and to posit local nodes of meaning in a trans-Mediterranean network of artistry. By doing so, we can begin to appreciate how the works of trans-Mediterranean artists gain authority and authenticity not from cultural isolation or purity, but from unfettered exchange with other nodes of production and meaning. To do so, we will read selections from The 1001 Nights, Hayy b. Yaqzan, Tayf al-Khayal, Tarikh al-Tabari, Muruj al-Dhahab, and Maqamat al-Hariri, Gesta Romanorum, Boccaccio’s Decameron, Queen Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptaméron, Cervantes’s Don Quixote and Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and examine the ways that these narratives inter-activate one another and serve as mimetic resources for later storytellers and novelists on both sides of the Mediterranean spurring competitive artistry in extended plot structures, characters complexity, critiques of society and dogmas, and the multi-vocal plurality of the modern novel.

Prerequisites: Graduate Standing and ARA 320L, 420L and 120D, or 531L.

Requirements: Weekly readings and writing assignments. Weekly discussions in Arabic, class participation, and four essays (3pp).

Grading: Four Essays 60%, Writing Assignments 20%, Discussion 20%

Text: Selections from The 1001 Nights, Hayy b. Yaqzan, Tayf al-Khayal, Tarikh al-Tabari, Muruj al-Dhahab, and Maqamat al-Hariri, Gesta Romanorum, Boccaccio’s Decameron, Queen Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptaméron, Cervantes’s Don Quixote, Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, Muwaylihi’s Hadith Isa Ibn Hisham, Haykal’s Zaynab.

This course is a survey of Arabic literature from the pre-Islamic (5th century) era to the mod-ern times. It will provide students with a basic introduction to literature in the Arabic language produced by many ethnicities. Students will discover sixteen hundred years of poetry, bal-lads, essays, & stories in translation. We will focus on literature that is both classical & modern, urban & rural, courtly & folk, as well as religious & secular. Students will study Arabic literature within the context of social life. Literature in Arab society was not only read, it was memorized for public recitation as part of a long tradition of ritual performance & story-telling. Students will gain an understanding of the literary work, not as simple object of art, but as a communication between people, which makes it a "cultural practice" that both reflects & shapes Arab society. Students are encouraged to engage literature fully in comparison with other works in world literature.

Texts:

Night and Horses and The Desert; Desert Tracings: Six Classic Arabian Odes; Approaching the Qur'an; Poems of Arab Andalusia; Tales from a Thousand & One Nights. Season of Migration to the North Kanafani, G. Men in the Sun

Grading:

Attendance/Participation  20%

Response Papers  20%

First Paper  30%

Second Paper  30%

This course is a survey of Arabic literature from the pre-Islamic (5th century) era to the mod-ern times. It will provide students with a basic introduction to literature in the Arabic language produced by many ethnicities. Students will discover sixteen hundred years of poetry, bal-lads, essays, & stories in translation. We will focus on literature that is both classical & modern, urban & rural, courtly & folk, as well as religious & secular. Students will study Arabic literature within the context of social life. Literature in Arab society was not only read, it was memorized for public recitation as part of a long tradition of ritual performance & story-telling. Students will gain an understanding of the literary work, not as simple object of art, but as a communication between people, which makes it a "cultural practice" that both reflects & shapes Arab society. Students are encouraged to engage literature fully in comparison with other works in world literature.

Texts:

Night and Horses and The Desert; Desert Tracings: Six Classic Arabian Odes; Approaching the Qur'an; Poems of Arab Andalusia; Tales from a Thousand & One Nights. Season of Migration to the North Kanafani, G. Men in the Sun

Grading:

Attendance/Participation  20%

Response Papers  20%

First Paper  30%

Second Paper  30%

This course is a survey of Arabic literature from the pre-Islamic (5th century) era to the mod-ern times. It will provide students with a basic introduction to literature in the Arabic language produced by many ethnicities. Students will discover sixteen hundred years of poetry, bal-lads, essays, & stories in translation. We will focus on literature that is both classical & modern, urban & rural, courtly & folk, as well as religious & secular. Students will study Arabic literature within the context of social life. Literature in Arab society was not only read, it was memorized for public recitation as part of a long tradition of ritual performance & story-telling. Students will gain an understanding of the literary work, not as simple object of art, but as a communication between people, which makes it a "cultural practice" that both reflects & shapes Arab society. Students are encouraged to engage literature fully in comparison with other works in world literature.

Texts:

Night and Horses and The Desert; Desert Tracings: Six Classic Arabian Odes; Approaching the Qur'an; Poems of Arab Andalusia; Tales from a Thousand & One Nights. Season of Migration to the North Kanafani, G. Men in the Sun

Grading:

Attendance/Participation  20%

Response Papers  20%

First Paper  30%

Second Paper  30%

Through historical and political writings, literature, music, and blogs, this course will examine the phenomenon of “The Arab Spring” that swept many countries in the Arab world starting in December 2010. The course will analyze the root causes of the revolutions and popular movements that created this “Spring” and examine the political, social, and cultural developments that occurred in their wake. The course will place special emphasis on examining the role that the Internet and Satellite TV played in paving the way for this phenomenal change in the Arab world. The course will be conducted entirely in Arabic and will expose students to a wide variety of written and video texts and provide opportunities for extensive writing in Arabic. It requires Advanced proficiency in Arabic in all skills.

Texts/Readings

The course will utilize various text and video materials that will be made available to students via Blackboard.