• SANS 3024

    Selections from the Upanisads
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Spring 2026

    A second-year course focusing on developing reading fluency in Sanskrit. Selections are chosen to reinforce student's knowledge of grammar from SANS 1020/5020, to expand vocabulary, and to introduce the Upanisads, a major spiritual text of ancient India. Prerequisite: SANS 1020.

  • SATR 3040

    Poetry of Love and Devotion
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    What is love? How is it articulated? Is love devotion? What is passion? What are the different forms of desire? The object of desire may be human (male or female), divine, abstract or ambiguous; its defining trait is its inaccessibility. Poets through the ages have expressed love and devotion through language. We will read and ponder the poetics of love.

  • URDU 3040

    Magic, Dreams, and Absence: The Fiction of Naiyer Masud
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    In this class we will conduct close readings (in Urdu!) of several of Masud's short fiction writings, and will discuss them in detail. There will be weekly assignments, a final take-home exam, and a final video project. Prerequisite: URDU 2020 or instructor permission.

  • URDU 3050

    Born for the Stage: A Survey of Modern Urdu Drama
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Spring 2026

    In this class we will conduct close readings (in Urdu!) of several 20th-century dramas/plays, and will discuss them in detail. There will be weekly assignments, a final take-home exam, and a final video project. Prerequisite: URDU 2020 or instructor permission.

  • MESA 3131

    MENASA American Comics
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    This course offers a survey of Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian American comic books, graphic novels, and graphic memoirs. Reading fiction and nonfiction comics, paired with academic and critical writing and other media, we will think critically about what it means for creators of different diasporas and differently marginalized identities to produce art for readers in the United States.

  • PETR 3131

    Love, Lust, and the Divine in Persian Literature
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Spring 2026

    This course aims to introduce students to Persian literature's contribution to global humanism through poetry and poetics. We'll explore how Persian romance novels in verse (masnavi) engage with themes like love, desire, beauty, and the Divine, and how these themes intersect with gender, religion, society, ethics, womanhood, and leadership. The main focus will be the narrative content, the poets' arguments, and the issues they raise.

  • MEST 3232

    No Foul- No Game: Sports, Nationality, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
     Rating

    2.33

     Difficulty

    2.00

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Spring 2026

    This course reviews key milestones of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict throughout the lends of competitive sports in the MENA regions and in Israel in particular. The course examines sports¿ role in reflecting socio-political divisions of religion, gender, class and representation struggles, while serving political interests as part of culture and identity building, as well as its utilization as a platform for ethno-nationalist violence.

  • PETR 3232

    Persian Poetry and Poetics in Translation
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    This course is an introduction to major poets of Classical and Medieval Persian literature through learning about different poetic forms and genres, themes and topics, and motifs and images within the Persian literary canon by reading the works of poets from different centuries. We will also learn about these poets, their social lives, cultural changes, court affiliations, thoughts, and philosophies.

  • MEST 3240

    Israel/Palestine Through Literature and Film
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Fall 2025

    This course will approach the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of literature and film. We will study memoirs, short stories, documentaries, and feature films in order to think about several broader historical themes, including: the relationship between religion and nationalism, the role of colonialism in the Middle East, the links between history and memory, and the meaning of homeland.

  • ARAB 3259

    Advanced Arabic for Business
     Rating

     Difficulty

     GPA

    Last Taught

    Spring 2026

    The course aims to provide advanced training in developing linguistic and communicative skills in business Arabic. The business topics cover data & communication, finance, insurance, law & contract, research & production, marketing, transport, travel, meetings, and conferences. Instructor permission.