Fall 2024 – Middle Eastern Studies and Arabic Studies at Queens College

Instructor: TBA
Day and Time: MoWe 10:05AM – 11:55AM
Course Code: 43000
Satisfies: College Option – QC Language
Description: A beginner’s course in modern Arabic, designed to give elementary control over the spoken and the written word; practice in reading elementary texts and in oral expression.
Mode: Online, Synchronous
Credits: 4

Instructor: Hala Abdelghany
Day and Time: TuTh 10:05AM – 11:55AM
Course Code: 38097
Satisfies: College Option – QC Language
Description: A beginner’s course in modern Arabic, designed to give elementary control over the spoken and the written word; practice in reading elementary texts and in oral expression.
Mode: Online, Synchronous
Credits: 4

Instructor: Kirsten Beck
Day and Time: Online, Asynchronous
Course Code: 42950
Satisfies: College Option – QC Literature
Description: A survey of the rich cultural legacy of Islamic civilization from the 7th to 15th centuries CE, a time of intense literary activity and intellectual inquiry in the Middle East, through close readings of scripture, literary texts, and scholarly works.Topics to be covered include the revelation of the Qur’n and development of Islamic religious sciences, ethnic and religious identity in the medieval Middle East, court culture and literature under the Abbasid caliphs, Persian identity and literature, theories of historiography, and the development of Sufi mysticism.
Mode: Online, Asynchronous
Credits: 3

Instructor: Kirsten Beck
Day and Time: Online, Asynchronous
Course Code: 43363
Satisfies: College Option – QC Literature
Description: A survey of the rich cultural legacy of Islamic civilization from the 7th to 15th centuries CE, a time of intense literary activity and intellectual inquiry in the Middle East, through close readings of scripture, literary texts, and scholarly works.Topics to be covered include the revelation of the Qur’n and development of Islamic religious sciences, ethnic and religious identity in the medieval Middle East, court culture and literature under the Abbasid caliphs, Persian identity and literature, theories of historiography, and the development of Sufi mysticism.
Credits: 3

Instructor: Mohammed Mohamed
Day and Time: Online, Asynchronous
Course Code: 43362
Satisfies: Flexible Core – World Cultures & Global Issues
Description: An introduction to the scriptures, tenets, practice and historical development of the religion of Islam and the principal genres of scholarly and religious expression in Islamic societies. Throughout the course, a chronological account will be paired with theme discussions on law, science, philosophy, mysticism and daily life. The status of Islamic religion in the culture and its influence on the formation and development of various institutions in society will be investigated. In addition, the origins and development of sectarianism and the main religious sects in Islamic societies will be discussed. The changing nature of the relationship between religious tradition, political structures, economy and society from the rise of Islam in the seventh century until the post-colonial period in the twentieth century will be highlighted.
Credits: 3

Instructor: TBA
Day and Time: Tu 1:40PM – 5:30PM
Location: Kiely Hall 312
Course Code: 46886
Description: An investigation into the culture, history and politics of the Middle East through a wide range of sources, with an emphasis on analyzing how our knowledge of a culture or region is both created and processed through different forms of representation. Using film, literary texts, and media representations as primary resources (augmented by readings that provide cultural, historical, political and theoretical background), students negotiate issues or narrative, point of view, and cultural history in order to explore the complexities of Middle Eastern cultures and peoples in both contemporary and historical contexts.
Credits: 3

Instructor: Robin Hizme
Day and Time: TuTh 3:10PM – 4:25PM
Mode: Online, Synchronous
Course Code: 42946
Satisfies: College Option – QC Literature
Description: A study of the origins, history, tales, and influences of The 1001 Nights (Alf Layla wa Layla) in both their medieval Arab-Islamic milieu and modern adaptations in world literature and film. Major goals of the course include understanding the original frame story and embedded tales in the literary and political context of the Abbasid era, analyzing the key themes of justice, mercy, fate, and faith as well as gender roles in the text, tracing major European translations of the text and their relationship to Orientalism, and investigating how modern authors and filmmakers have adapted The 1001 Nights to comment on varying historical, political, and social issues. All readings will be in English translation.
Credits: 3

Instructor: Kirsten Beck
Day and Time: MoWe 10:45AM – 12:00PM
Mode: Online, Synchronous
Course Code: 43359
Satisfies: Flexible Core – Individual and Society; College Option – QC Literature
Description: This course is a study of a wide range of literary genres and themes from the region usually defined as the Islamic world. The texts we will be engaging with are part of the Arabo-Islamic tradition, but are limited to neither the Arabic language nor the Muslim religion. We will be reading, in English translation, texts originally written Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and other languages. One of the main goals of the course is to understand the wide array of influences making up the remarkably rich and diverse cultures of the Middle East. The course will cover the time period beginning with the pre-Islamic period (6th century CE) to the 18th century.
Credits: 3

Instructor: Mohammed Mohamed
Day and Time: TuTh 10:45AM-12:00PM
Mode: Online, Synchronous
Course Code: 43358
Description: An examination of movements of revival and reform that have evolved in various parts of the Islamic world from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries. Some of these movements represent developments within Islam; others are responses developments within Islam; others are responses to the pressures of political and social change brought about by colonization and industrialization.
Credits: 3