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Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations Courses
See page 27 for Key to Course Descriptions. |
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HUM101Y1 An introduction to the ancient Near Eastern, Chinese and Japanese, South and Southeast Asian, and Islamic civilizations and cultures, their religious traditions, cultural expressions in literature and art, archaeological and architectural legacies, and technological achievements. Major themes include: the importance of writing systems and sacred texts; the nature of religious and political authority; and the role of women HUM199Y1 Undergraduate seminar that focuses on specific ideas, questions, phenomena or controversies, taught by a regular Faculty member deeply engaged in the discipline. Open only to newly admitted first year students. It may serve as a distribution requirement course; see page 40. NMC101Y1 Introduction to the archaeology, history and literature of the ancient Near East. The contributions made by the Egyptians, Babylonians and Assyrians to the development of civilization. NMC201Y1 This course acquaints students with the main features and legacies of the civilization that was formed in the Middle East in the 8th-10th centuries C.E. under the impetus of Islam, and marked by several highpoints before the early modern period. Continuity with the earlier civilizations of the ancient Near East are highlighted, and the diverse cultural traditions that contributed to the formation of Islamic civilization are described. NMC305Y1 Introduction to Old Babylonian. Grammar and the reading of selected texts. (Offered in alternate years) NMC405Y1 (Offered in alternate years) NMC210Y1 Introduction to the grammar and basic vocabulary of standard or literary Arabic, the one language written and read, and also spoken by those educated to speak it, throughout the Arab world. NMC310Y1 Begins with a review of basic grammar and proceeds with the reading of simple, connected prose passages that typify normal patterns of Arabic syntax. More literary and idiomatic passages are introduced gradually. NMC410Y1 After a short introduction to the history of the Arabic language within the framework of Semitic languages, connected passages of Arabic texts drawn from both classical and modern times are studied detail. NMC412Y1 Systematic outline of the development, characteristics, and peculiarities of selected genres of classical Arabic literature such as historiography, belles-lettres (adab), philosophy, ethics - Qur'an, exegesis, Literature of Tradition - poetry. Complementary readings, analysis and translation of original text passages are given emphasis. NMC413H1 Insights into the history of ideas in Islam. Original texts by Jurjani (d. 1078, literary criticism), Ghazali (d. 1111, philosophy), Ibn Rushd (d. 1196, law), Shahrastani (d. 1153, heresiography), Ibn Taymiyah (d. 1328, dogmatics), and Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406, social history). (Offered in alternate years) NMC315Y1 Introduction to Aramaic grammar. Readings from biblical Aramaic. (Offered in alternate years) NMC415Y1 An intensive study of various Targumim to the Pentateuch: Onkelos, Pseudo-Jonathan, Neophyti, Samaritan and Fragment Targumim. Differences among them in vocabulary, syntax and verb usage are discussed, as well as their relationship to the Palestinian midrashim. (Offered in alternate years) NMC416Y1 Jewish Western Aramaic NMC418Y1 (Offered in alternate years) NMC320Y1 Grammar and reading of selected hieroglyphic texts. NMC420Y1 Middle Egyptian texts. NMC230Y1 An introduction to biblical Hebrew prose. Grammar and selected texts. For students with no previous knowledge of Hebrew. NMC236H1 Introduction to the fundamentals of Hebrew grammar and syntax through classroom and language laboratory practice. Emphasis on the development of oral and writing skills. (Offered in alternate years) NMC237H1 Introduction to the fundamentals of Hebrew grammar and syntax through classroom and language laboratory practice. Emphasis on the development of oral and writing skills. (Offered in alternate years) NMC330Y1 Study of Hebrew grammar, providing a continuation of NMC230Y1. Through extensive reading of Hebrew in the books of Joshua-2 Kings, grammar is reviewed and consolidated, and vocabulary expanded. (Offered in alternate years) NMC331H1 Introduction to Mishnah and Tosefta, two of the three foundational documents of Middle Hebrew. In addition to studying specific features of this level of Hebrew, examining these compositions independently, and analyzing their interaction, students will examine current scholarly literature on these documents and their relationship to each other. (Offered in alternate years) NMC333Y1 Study of Hebrew grammar, providing a continuation of NMC230Y1. Through extensive reading of Hebrew in the books of Genesis-Deuteronomy, grammar is reviewed and consolidated, and vocabulary expanded. (Offered in alternate years) NMC334Y1 Selections from a tractate in Babylonian Talmud in order to gain facility in the understanding of the dialogic structure of the legal discussions. Practice in the use of classical commentaries and critical aids to allow independent study of the text. (Conducted in Hebrew) (Offered in alternate years) NMC336Y1 Intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew. (Offered in alternate years) NMC432Y1 This course familiarizes students with the methodology and terminology of the two midrashic systems: Devei R. Akiba and Devei R. Ishmael. Sections of all the midrashic halakha (Mekhiltot, Sifra and Sifre) are studied and compared to other Tannaitic materials. (Conducted in Hebrew) (Offered in alternate years) NMC434Y1 Advanced intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew. (Offered in alternate years) NMC436H1 A study of the poetic works of a major modern Hebrew poet. (Conducted in Hebrew) (Offered in alternate years) NMC437H1 A study of an important modern writer of Hebrew fiction. (Conducted in Hebrew) (Offered in alternate years) NMC240Y1 The fundamentals of modern standard Persian grammar, with emphasis on attaining fluency in reading and writing simple texts. Also serves as a basis for classical Persian. (Offered in alternate years) NMC340Y1 Reading of a variety of modern prose texts on the intermediate level, with an emphasis on grammatical analysis and translation. Introduction to the classical language in the second term, with readings from selected authors. (Offered in alternate years) NMC441Y1 Introduction to classical Persian poetry, including the Persian national epic and the mystical tradition, and survey of the development of classical Persian prose, based on readings from selected authors. (Offered in alternate years) NMC245Y1 The basic features of modern Turkish grammar. In the second term, Turkish prose and newspapers are studied, with some practice in writing simple Turkish. This course serves as a basis for the study of Ottoman Turkish. (Offered in alternate years) NMC345Y1 Modern texts literary, scholarly and journalistic. Turkish grammar and syntax; the nature of Turkish culture. (Offered in alternate years) NMC445Y1 Literary texts and composition in modern Turkish. Introduction to Ottoman Turkish. (Offered in alternate years) NMC255H1 Representative Arabic poems of the pre-Islamic period, followed by certain aspects of the Qur'an. Development of lyric poetry in the Islamic period and of prose, with emphasis on narrative prose. (Offered in alternate years) NMC256Y1 Introduces students to the culture of modern Israel through Israeli literature produced from 1948 - present. Focus will be primarily on selected short fiction, poems, plays, songs and films. Some themes explored are: tradition and modernity; traumas of war; the call of history; religion and secularism; and challenges of independence. In English translation. (Offered in lternate years) NMC257Y1 A gateway course designed to introduce students to the variety of literary works produced by the Jewish sages who became known as the rabbis. These works are the classical texts of Judaism which, after the Bible, created normative Judaism. Sample reading in translation will acquaint students with these works. (Offered in alternate years) NMC258Y1 Introduces students to the greatest mystical poet of the Perso-Islamic tradition, Maulana Jalal al-Din Rumi (d. 1273). Topics include divine love and mystical union, imagination, and esoteric interpretation of the Qur'an. Also introduces the main ideas of Sufism and the figurative language of Persian mystical poetry. In English translation. (Offered in alternate years) NMC350H1 Selected texts from Syriac literature written between the 3rd and 13th centuries C.E., including versions of the Bible and prominent authors of biblical commentaries, hymns, acts of martyrs, liturgical texts, historiography, grammatical and lexicographical works, as well as translations from Greek. (Offered in alternate years) NMC351H1 Introduces students to writings, cultures and religions of ancient Near Eastern societies as described directly in the inscriptions themselves, predominantly covering the 11th-6th centuries BCE. Texts covered include people like the Phoenicians, Moabites, Aramaens, Hittites, and Israelites. All inscriptions will be translated into English. NMC352H1 An exploration of the relationship of modern Heberw poetry to the Jewish religious tradition. The focus of the course will be to discern whether modern Hebrew poetry constitutes a rebellion against that tradition, or whether it is a source of continuity and revitalization. (Offered in alternate years) NMC357Y1 This course examines a) the transformations of Middle Eastern societies in the context of the development of communication technologies and media cultures; and b) Western media constructions of the Middle East and its diasporas in the West. (Offered in alternate years) NMC359Y1 Explores competing narratives of the Constitutional Revolution (1906-1911), particularly the transformation of public and private spheres and their corresponding modes of collective and personal self-presentation. Students explore revolutionary legacies, and the ways in which competing political, religious and ideological forces have attempted to shape the Revolution's memory. (Offered in alternate years) NMC260Y1 A general introduction to the archaeology of the ancient Near East including prehistory, Syria-Palestine, and the high civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Organized chronologically to trace the historical development of agriculture, urbanism, and complex state-ordered societies in the region. NMC261Y0 Participation for 4 - 7 weeks during the summer in an approved archaeological excavation in the eastern Mediterranean. This experience is then critiqued in a previously assigned essay researched and written under guidance upon return. Departmental permission is required in December-February prior to the fieldwork. Registration in the course will take place in the fall following field activity. NMC361Y1 From the Paleolithic to the Persian period, with primary emphasis on the Bronze and Iron Ages. The historical development of Palestinian archaeology, current field methods and interpretive strategies, and the relationship of archaeological discoveries to written records, including the Hebrew Bible. (Offered in alternate years) NMC362Y1 Architecture, formal arts, and decorative arts to the end of the Pharaonic period. Cultural evolution rather than art history. (Offered in alternate years) NMC363Y1 The archaeology, art and architecture of Iraq, North Syria and western Iran from ca. 3000 B.C.E. to the Persian period. The civilizations of Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia and Assyria, as well as their relationship to those of the surrounding areas. (Offered in alternate years) NMC366Y1 Architectural studies, historical sources and archaeological research are used to examine the physical and social morphology of the pre-industrial Islamic city from Central Asia to North Africa and Spain, from the 7th to the 17th centuries. NMC369H1 Materials and technology help define the cultures and civilizations that use them, especially for archaeologists. Focusing on the Near and Middle East, this course is aimed at promoting understanding of the nature of materials used by the peoples of the region from the earliest prehistory until recent times. This course has a hands-on emphasis. (Offered in alternate years) NMC461Y1 Prerequisite: 1.5 courses from NMC361Y1/NMC362Y1/363H1/ NMC465H1/NMC466H1; two courses from NMC370Y1/NMC371Y1/NMC372Y1 NMC462Y1 The use of polarized-light microscopy in the examination of ceramics, stone, other materials, and microstratigraphy. Lectures in elementary optical mineralogy and case-studies are followed by lab sessions in which typical thin-sections of pottery, rocks, soils and other materials are studied. (Offered in alternate years) NMC464H1 An intense view of the basic corpus of pottery from the Middle East, ca. 700-1800 C.E. The identification of technology, form, and style of the main ceramic groups, enabling identification, dating and attribution of original provenance. (Offered in alternate years) NMC465H1 A survey of methods of classification and analysis (form, fabric and style) involved in the study of archaeological ceramics, and the use of ceramics to infer patterns of production, distribution, and social organization; linking research questions with appropriate analytical techniques. NMC466H1 An introduction to the basic corpus of Near Eastern ceramics, from the invention of pottery production in the Neolithic until the Persian period, utilizing existing collections at the University and in the Royal Ontario Museum. NMC467Y1 The archaeology and material culture of ancient Egypt from the Predynastic through the Ptolemaic Period, with emphasis on the theoretical and methodological issues inherent in interpreting the archaeological record. Students will also work directly with artifactual material from the Egyptian collection of the ROM. NMC270H1 The birth of Christianity in Syria and Mesopotamia and the rise of the Monophysite and Nestorian Churches; their life under the Byzantines, Sassanians, Arabs, Mongols and Ottomans. The role of Syrian Christians in diplomacy, science, missions, and relations with other churches. (Offered in alternate years) NMC273Y1 Features of the pre-Islamic Middle East inherited by Islamic civilization, birth of Islam, life and times of Muhammad, formation of Islamic empire and civilization, political disintegration of the caliphate, emergence of autonomous dynasties, the fall of Baghdad to Mongols in 1258 and the rise of the Mamluks. NMC274Y1 Eurasian steppe nomads as slave-soldiers, conquerors, world-empire builders throughout pre-modern Islamic Middle East and Central Asia. Topics include pastoral nomadism, steppe politics and warfare, conversion, jihad. Provides basis for understanding past and present issues of lands, such as Iran, Afghanistan, India, Syria, Egypt and Turkey, where Turks and Mongols played decisive historical roles. (Offered in alternate years) NMC276Y1 This course examines the transformation of Middle Eastern societies form the perspective of non-state actors, especially the social and political movements of peasants, women, labour, students, and other social groups. NMC277Y0 A course offered only at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in conjunction with Woodsworth College. Specific topics each year determined by the instructor. NMC278Y1 Historical survey of the principal countries of the Middle East in the 19th and 20th centuries. Themes include the interplay of imperial and local interests, the emergence of national movements, and the formation of modern states. NMC370Y1 The political and cultural history of ancient Israel from the origin of the Hebrews to the exile and restoration in the Persian period. (Offered in alternate years) NMC371Y1 The political and cultural history of Egypt from the close of the predynastic period to its conquest by Alexander the Great; the use of both archaeological and literary evidence. NMC372Y1 The political and cultural history of the peoples of ancient South-Western Asia (Sumerians, Babylonians, Hittites and Persians). (Offered in alternate years) NMC373Y1 A survey of the social, cultural, and political transformations of Turkey and Iran in the context of Eurasian and international relations. (Offered in alternate years) NMC374Y1 A survey of the history of Egypt under Islamic rule from the Arab to the Ottoman conquest (1517 C.E.), including the Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties. Issues treated thematically include conversion and inter-communal relations, relations with Syria, militarization of the political structure, including the military slave (mamluk) institution, religious currents, the impact of the Crusades and Mongol invasions, commercial and diplomatic relations, the emergence of Cairo as the centre of the later mediaeval western Islamic world. (Offered in alternate years) NMC375Y1 The pre-Islamic background, particularly the Achaemenid and Sasanian periods. The Islamic conquests of the 7th century CE, and the transformation of Persian culture in the renaissance of the 10th century. Survey of the major dynasties, including the Samanids, Saljuqs, and Timurids, terminating with the Safavids in the 16th century. NMC376H1 Muslim conquest of North Africa and Spain, history of Spain under Muslim rule to 1492. Attention given to institutional and cultural development, Islamic Spain's relations with the Islamic east and neighbours in Europe. (Offered in alternate years) NMC377Y1 History of the emergence of the Ottoman state and its evolution from a border principality in Asia Minor into an empire. Ottoman expansion into Europe, Asia and Africa. The empire at its height under Süleyman the Lawgiver. The development of important administrative and military institutions. First military and diplomatic setbacks. NMC378Y1 Political, social and economic history of the Arab lands of North Africa and the Middle East from 1700 to the present. Arabs under Ottoman rule, western colonial rule, emergence of independent states, current problems and prospects. (Offered in alternate years) NMC379H1 An introduction to mathematics, astronomy, alchemy and the medical sciences, as they were known, developed, and applied in practical ways in the mediaeval Islamic world. NMC471H1 A seminar organized around readings on a topic selected by the instructor. Possible topics might include authority and power in medieval Islamic society in the Middle East, slavery, women, taxation, landholding, iqta' and payment of the military, waqf, etc. (Offered in alternate years) NMC475H1 This course probes the contemporaneous formation of modern Oriental Studies in Europe and the emergence of discourses on Europe (Ifranj/Farang) in the Middle East from the eighteenth century to the present. Special emphasis will be devoted to encounters between scholars in Western Europe, Iran, India, and the Ottoman Empire. This seminar-style course explains that Orientals gazed and returned the gaze, and in the process of "cultural looking," they, like their Occidental counterparts, exoticized and eroticized the Farangi-Other. In the interplay of looks between Orientals and Occidentals, there was no steady position of spectatorship, no objective observer, and no "aperspectival" position. NMC477Y1 This course examines the formation of nations and nation-states, national and ethnic conflicts, self-determination, conflict resolution, and national and ethnic minority rights. NMC479Y1 A seminar organized around readings in selected topics. The topics are related to the instructor's research interests. (Offered in alternate years) NMC185Y1 The place of Islam in world history, its central beliefs and practices. The Islamic contribution to world civilization; the pluralistic community, learning and the arts. Islam and modernity. NMC284H1 Explores the interaction between Jewish religious and secular movements and feminism. Investigates Jewish law (halakha) and the Jewish legal (halakhic) process in terms of feminist critique. Marriage, divorce, Torah study, bat mitzvah, other ceremonies, female rabbinic ordination and women's prayer groups are some of the topics considered. (Offered in alternate years) NMC285Y1 Concern is mainly with the sacred character of the Qur'an (koran), its preeminence in Islam. Topics include: the idea of the sacred book, the Qur'an and the Bible, the influence of the Qur'an on Islamic spirituality, literature, theology, law, philosophy, and the various apporaches taken in interpreting the Qur'an. Knowledge of Arabic is not required. (Offered in alternate years) NMC380Y1 Religious belief and practice in Mesopotamia and Syria (Ugarit). (Offered in alternate years) NMC381Y1 This course covers the intellectual activity of Muslim scholars and thinkers in recent centuries. The main focus is writings on and about the Qur'an in an attempt to refine our thinking about the problem of modernity and its meanings in an Islamicate context. (Offered in alternate years) NMC382Y1 Religious belief and practice in Egypt. (Offered in alternate years) NMC384H1 Jewish attitudes to various personal status issues, such as the foetus, the minor, the pubescent child, and the mentally and physically challenged adult from biblical and rabbinic sources to modern Jewish positions. (Offered in alternate years) NMC385Y1 The course examines the 19th and 20th century Arab world through the lenses of its intellectuals, their debates and political activism. It asks how intellectuals reflected and shaped their environment and their times. A major theme is the interconnectedness of (post-) colonial politics and intellectual production in the modern Middle East. (Offered in alternate years) NMC386H1 The history and beliefs of Muslims who have seen themselves as holding to a distinctive vision of Islam anchored in a characteristic attitude towards the ultimate sources of religious authority. Special attention is paid to "political" Shi'ism: the Fatamids, the Safavids, contemporary Iran; the roles of personal sacrifice and messianism. NMC387H1 Mysticism and spirituality in Islam: the Qur'an; doctrine; prayer; NMC484Y1 Abortion, rape, family violence and similar topics from the perspective of historical and legal development, scientific theory, socio-ethical attitudes and anthropological comparison in the Bible and other ancient Near Eastern sources, through Jewish legal texts to modern responses. (Offered in alternate years) NMC392H1 Monumental architecture, whether for secular or religious purposes, played a special role in Muslim societies, particularly in major centres such as Isfahan, Samarkand and Delhi. Beginning with the Taj Mahal (1632) the best-known elements of Islamic architecture the double dome, the pointed arch, glazed tiles are traced retroactively in Iran, Central Asia, and India, and their social context is studied. (Offered every three years) NMC396Y1 An overview of late antique Greek, Arab and Persian material culture, as seen through the archaeological record of Syria, Iraq, and Iran. NMC299Y1 Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. See page 40 for details. NMC398H0/399Y0 An instructor-supervised group project in an off-campus setting. See page 40 for details. NMC495Y1 A scholarly project chosen by the student, approved by the Department and supervised by one of the instructors. See Department Handbook for further information. NMC496H1 Prerequisite: Permission of Department NMC497H1 Prerequisite: Permission of Department NMC499Y1 A course of study tailored to the individual needs or interests of advanced undergraduate students. A selection of readings chosen by the student, under the supervision of a faculty member on which the student may be examined serves as background preparation for the writing of a research paper. |
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