Spring 2021 Courses
The following courses are offered this semester only.
W 3:10-5:00
Large scale migrations, forced and voluntary, have been a defining feature of our world since the sixteenth century. The vast literature in public culture on global migration often overlooks the impact of documents in shaping the experience of migrants. From the travel passes to identification papers, from visas to passports, the document has been a central feature of the migrants’ lives. This course focuses on the development of systems of identification of migrants in the Middle East from the late nineteenth century to the present. We will explore the relationship of documents of identification to citizenship and nationality; the meaning of statelessness and its relationship to documentation; the impact of war on stable categories like borders, citizenship and identity documents; and the legal and existential limbo of internally displaced people, asylum seekers and refugees in the age of global anxiety about security and identity.
Cross-listed with WGSS 3170.84
MW 9:35-10:50
Ever wonder how the women's suffrage movement developed across Europe? Or what role gender played during the Holocaust? More recently, how did the #MeToo movement unfold in the European context?
This class explores these questions as well as the ideas, politics, work, and everyday lives of women in Europe from the late Enlightenment to the present day. The class will leave you thinking critically about the way European history has been constructed throughout the modern period.
Cross-listed with JSTD 2002.84
MW 3:45-5:00
All too often, Jewish history is seen through an Ashkenazi lens, focusing on Jews originating from Western European and Eastern European regions. The fascinating stories of various Sephardi Jewish communities (descendants of those expelled from Spain) who spoke Judaeo-Spanish (Ladino), and the various Jewish communities in Arab and Middle Eastern countries were left out of this grand narrative. The two aims of the new course are to provide students with a broad overview of the history of the major Sephardi communities in modern times, and, secondly, to explore the history of Mizrahi Jews who immigrated to Israel and represent a significant part of Israeli society. We will be leaping from Salonica to Baghdad, Algiers to Tehran, Istanbul to Tunisia, examine how the term "Mizrahi" came to life and charged with cultural and political meaning and how various non-Ashkenazi authors and intellectuals began describing themselves as "Levantines" or "Arab-Jews."
Cross-listed with IAFF 6318.82
W 5:10-7:00
Did you know the current conflict in Afghanistan is the longest and most expensive war in American history? Are you interested in understanding America’s never-ending war? Do you want to know something beyond the headlines about a place that has taken a generation of American political capital? Then take this course! Undergraduates welcome.