Near East Studies

This course examines the roots of the primitive Arab state, its conquests, expansion, and evolution, as well as its cultural influence both on the spaces dominated by Arabs and other political institutions of their environment, highlighting in particular the dialogue with Europe throughout the Middle Ages. It is divided into three units: the birth of the Islamic world-- unity, expansion, and culture; geopolitical transformation of the Islamic world; political (re)presentation of Islam.

This course offers a unique opportunity to study some of the world’s oldest religions in a comparative perspective. It is an interdisciplinary initiative between the disciplines of the Study of Religions, Egyptology, and Assyriology. The course is theme-oriented and each unit has both a more theoretical part along with an empirical component that focuses on texts and objects from Egypt and Mesopotamia. Themes studied include deities and concepts of the divine, mythologies, temples and sacred space, ritual leaders and other religious agents, rituals and festivals, hymns and prayers, magic, healing rituals and divination, conceptions of death and afterlife. The course also introduces the main textual sources (such as the Gilgamesh Epic, the Babylonian Epic of Creation, the Myth of Isis and Osiris, and the Book of the Dead), excerpts of which are read in English translation. The course provides a general overview of the basic theoretical debates in the history of religions, as well as a basic overview of religious beliefs and practices in ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia (c. 3300 BCE – 300 CE). The empirical material in class come from the religions of the ancient Near East, but the analytical tools used are applicable on historical religions at large.

This course examines the approaches and policies adopted by Middle Eastern countries in the pursuit of economic and social development, and the theories developed by scholars to explain the region’s political economies and its problems with development. The course includes details on the historical trajectories of Middle Eastern economies and political systems, from the post-independence state-led period, through the impacts of the 1970s oil boom, attempts at economic liberalization, the impacts of globalization and technological change, and the aftermath of the post-2011 Arab uprisings. Using case studies from the Arab world as well as Israel and Iran, the course introduces key theories of political economy as they have been applied to the Middle East including: modernization theory, dependency theory, rentier state theory, liberalism and neoliberalism, and Islamic economic ideas. Economic development in the region has been tortuous and uneven, hobbled as much by non-economic factors as by economic ones. 

This course provides a detailed examination of the various conflicts that have beset Iraq since 1980, covering the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War; the 1990-91 Gulf War; the 2003 war; the post-2003 civil war, and the conflict with the so-called Islamic State (ISIS). The aim is to examine these conflicts holistically, considering not only their military and political dimensions – absolutely central as these are to an understanding of Iraq's modern history and politics – but also to look at the economic sources and impacts of the conflict, the social and religious dynamics, and the regional setting and implications of them. The course broadly follows a chronological line in looking at these conflicts, since to a large extent these conflicts stem from previous ones, but the discussion and analysis is also interspersed with theoretical discussions about conflict and with the examination of films, documentaries, and other audiovisual narratives about modern Iraq.

This course examines the principal debates, features, and manifestations of Middle East politics in the 20th and 21st centuries. The course also contextualizes the Middle East as a region of the world that continually impacts on the wider international order. This course situates the Middle East, not as a single unitary manifestation of politics, but as a wider diverse and dynamic region. Political dimensions of the Middle East such as the legacy of colonialism, the democracy deficit, political economy, and contemporary conflict, as well as the role of civil society, feature as topics in the course.

This course covers Ancient Israel from its cradle to the beginning of the common era, ending with Qumran. It covers the theories about the origins of Israel, including the exodus from Egypt, against the socio-political background of Ancient Israel with due attention to historiography. The succession and successes of various royals are covered, as well as the activity of the prophets in a comparative perspective. Cultic practices throughout the period are discussed.

This course surveys the formation and development of Islam and its position and characteristics in the modern world. Divided into five thematic units, the course will cover:  

1) Origins of Islam and the figure of the Prophet Muḥammad;  

2) Islamic authoritative texts – the Qur’ān and the Sunnah of the Prophet Muḥammad;  

3) Various dimensions of classical Islam, including law and ritual practices;  

4) Alternative visions of Islam, in particular the Shī‘ite and the Ṣūfi interpretations of Islam, and  

5) Modern developments in Islam. 

While questioning the relevance of the concept of the "Iranian world," this course provides fundamental knowledge in the political sociology of contemporary Iran and Afghanistan, from a comparative perspective. The course considers together the political, economic, and cultural developments of these two states over a long period, from the fall of Isfahan in 1722, under the blows of an Afghan invasion, to the fall of Kabul in 2021, via the Anglo-Persian war of Herat in 1856-1857 and the concomitant upheavals of 1978 and 1979. Methods of comparative politics are combined with those of connected history to better understand the "Iranian world" as a whole, as well as each of its two major components, highlighting their differences as much as their similarities. The comparative study of Islamic currents of thought in the two countries forms an important part of this course. This includes a focus on the Arab world, as well as the Indian subcontinent. Finally, while the course focuses on Iran and Afghanistan, it also includes Tajikistan, the only other state where Persian is the official language. The course includes a visit to the Guimet Museum.

Relying on a multidisciplinary perspective, this course provides theoretical and empirical tools to understand contemporary Iran. It studies decisive historical events, figures, and ideologies to understand how Iran interacted and interacts with regional and global powers. It analyzes the Iranian political and religious model to understand continuities and discontinuities in Iranian domestic policies (institutional and political structure, state ideology) as well as the evolution of alliances and balances of powers (regionally and internationally). The course encourages reading and familiarization with the global academic literature to develop critical thinking and methodological skills.

Through classroom study and field trips, this course embarks on a journey of Jerusalem through time and space, over the course of three thousand years, from a regional center to a national capital to the spiritual center for the world’s three great western monotheistic religions. It bulids an understanding and appreciation of its present and future, how the city developed, and how the city seems to touch everyone in the world today.