Independent study in a special field under the direction of a faculty member in MESALC. Prerequisite: Instructor permission.

Independent study for advanced students of Persian. Prerequisite: Instructor permission.

This course is meant to give students training in advanced Sanskrit

Thesis research under the direction of a MESALC faculty member serving as thesis advisor and a second faculty member serving as second reader. The second faculty member may be from outside MESALC. Prerequisite: DMP major and instructor permission.

Thesis composition under the direction of a MESALC faculty member serving as thesis advisor and a second faculty member serving as second reader. The second faculty member may be from outside MESALC. Prerequisite: DMP major and instructor permission.

This course begins in the era of early cinema and proceeds through the contemporary moment, with a focus on Middle East -- South Asia genealogies of filmmaking. Its emphasis remains on the quintessentially transnational histories (parallels, intersections, circuits) of these cinemas - e.g., the centrality of popular Egyptian cinema within the Arab world; the prolific circulation of Hindi cinema across and beyond South Asia.

In this course we will focus specifically on the literary representation of and socio-cultural/theosophical debate on humor, pleasantry, wit, frivolity, eating, feasting, banquets crashing, dietetics, erotology, aphrodisiacs, sexual education and hygiene. We will organize the course around selected readings from a variety of premodern Arabic jocular, culinary and erotological literature available in English translations.

A comprehensive overview of contemporary Arab women's literature, this course examines all Arab women's literary genres starting from personal letters, memoirs, speeches, poetry, fiction, drama, to journalistic articles and interviews. Selected texts cover various geographic locales and theoretical perspectives. Special emphasis will be given to the issues of Arab female authorship, subjectivity theory, and to the question of Arab Feminism.

This course focuses on reading texts in Modern Standard Arabic of different genres.

This course aims to introduce students of third-year and fourth-year Arabic to Arabic poetry and culture through classical and contemporary songs. Many Arabic songs are taken from poems and they reflect different literary trends: romantic, religious, patriotic, Sufi, and contemplative poems. We will explore these poems, their impact on the Arabic collective unconscious, and cultural influence when turned into songs.