This is the continuation of the first semester Intermediate Arabic. This course is also proficiency-based, implying that all activities within the course are aimed at placing you, the learner, in the context of the native-speaking environment. Evaluation is done by the more traditional testing methods (vocabulary tests, grammar and translation exercises). We anticipate that students will achieve Intermediate High according to the ACTFL scale.

This course is a continuation of first semester Elementary Arabic, and builds on the speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in the standard means of communication in the Arab World. Evaluation is done by the more traditional testing methods (vocabulary tests, dictations, grammar and translation exercises). We anticipate that by the end of this course, students will range in proficiency from Novice High to Intermediate Low on the ACTFL scale.

This course is a continuation of first semester Elementary Arabic, and builds on the speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in the standard means of communication in the Arab World. Evaluation is done by the more traditional testing methods (vocabulary tests, dictations, grammar and translation exercises). We anticipate that by the end of this course, students will range in proficiency from Novice High to Intermediate Low on the ACTFL scale.

This course is an introduction to the language of the Egyptian Old Kingdom. The grammar of the period will be introduced during the early part of the semester, using Ededl's ALTAGYPTISCHE GRAMMATIK as the basic reference. Other grammatical studies to be utilized will include works by Allen, Baer, Polotsky, Satzinger, Gilula, Doret, and Silverman. The majority of time in the course will be devoted to reading varied textual material: the unpublished inscriptions in the tomb of the Old Kingdom offical Kapure--on view in the collection of the University Museum; several autobiographical inscriptions as recorded by Sethe in URKUNDEN I; and a letter in hieratic (Baer, ZAS 93, 1966, 1-9).

Readings in Akkadian letters from ancient Mesopotamia.

A continuation of 1st Year Akkadian I, this class builds on the lessons of that class on the grammar of the Akkadian language with emphasis on developing skills in the cuneiform writing system and reading of selected texts. To take this class without first having taken 1st Year Akkadian I requires permission of the instructor.

A continuation of First Year Akkadian I, this class teaches the grammar of the Akkadian language with emphasis on developing skills in the cuneiform writing system and reading of selected texts.

This course is designed to provide an in-depth analysis of archaeological metals. Topics to be discussed include: exploitation of ore and its transformation to metal in ancient times, distribution of metal as a raw materials, provenance studies, development and organization of early metallurgy, and interdisciplinary investigations of metals and related artifacts like slag and crucibles. Students will become familiar with the full spectrum of analytical procedures, ranging from microscopy for materials characterization to mass spectrometry for geochemical fingerprinting, and will work on individual research projects analyzing archaeological objects following the analytical methodology of archaeometallurgy.

After the “golden age” of the Islamic Near East in the early Middle Ages, the empires controlled by the caliphs began to fragment and political power devolved to a constellation of local dynasties, princelings, and entirely new ethnic and religious groups. This course traces the changes wrought by this fragmentation in the Islamic Near East’s political, social, and cultural history. It is a period rivaled in its creativity only by the early Islamic era that preceded it. It was in this period that saw the arrival of Turkish groups in large numbers, and saw the cosmopolitan Islam of earlier centuries challenged by the arrival of European Crusaders, pagan Mongol hordes, and movements of reform from within. In many ways, much of what we think of today as “Islam” or “Islamic” are products of this period. Special topics include: the Eleventh-Century Transformation; Crusades and Jihads, the Mamluk Institution; Knowledge and Power; The Mongol Invasions; Timur and His Legacy; Gunpowder Empires.

Course topics will vary; they have included The Binding of Isaac, Responses to Catastrophes in Jewish History, Holy Men & Women (Ben-Amos); Rewriting the Bible (Dohrmann); Performing Judaism (Fishman); Jewish Political Thought (Fishman); Jewish Esotericism (Lorberbaum) Democratic culture assumes the democracy of knowledge - the accessibility of knowledge and its transparency. Should this always be the case? What of harmful knowledge? When are secrets necessary? In traditional Jewish thought, approaching the divine has often assumed an aura of danger. Theological knowledge was thought of as restricted. This seminar will explore the "open" and "closed" in theological knowledge, as presented in central texts of the rabbinic tradition: the Mishnah, Maimonides and the Kabbalah. Primary sources will be available in both Hebrew and English.