Relevant Courses taught by IWI Faculty
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RELI 2070 Classical Islam
Ahmed al-Rahim
Studies the Irano-Semitic background, Arabia, Muhammad and the Qur'an, the Hadith, law and theology, duties and devotional practices, sectarian developments, and Sufism.
John W. Warner Hall 104
MoWe 11:00am - 11:50am
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=13461
Expand content
COLA 1500 Memoirs of Jews from Arab Lands
College Advising Seminars
Jessica Andruss
COLA courses are 1-credit seminars capped at 18 first-year students, all of whom are assigned to the instructor as advisees. They are topically focused on an area identified by the faculty member; they also include a significant advising component centered on undergraduate issues (e.g., choosing a major, study abroad opportunities, undergraduate research, etc.). For detailed descriptions see http://college.as.virginia.edu/COLA
The Rotunda Room 150
Th 2:00pm - 3:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19078
Expand content
RELJ 2410 Intermediate Biblical Hebrew I
Jessica Andruss
Readings in the prose narratives of the Hebrew Bible. Emphasizes grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. Attention to issues of translation and interpretation. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 1420 or the equivalent.
New Cabell Hall 038
TuTh 9:30am - 10:45am
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19078
Expand content
RELG 7360 Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion
Jessica Andruss
Given the multidisciplinary character of religious studies, it is imperative for new scholars to gain a basic sense of theoretical and methodological options in the field. By way of an examination of landmark texts, this course surveys the formation of religious studies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and considers some important contemporary approaches.
New Cabell Hall 042
Fr 2:00pm - 4:30pm
https://louslist.org/page.php?Semester=1248&Type=Search
Expand content
HIME 2003 Markets and the Making of the Muslim World: A History of Capitalism
Fahad Bishara
This course is designed to introduce students to the economic history of the Islamic World over the duration of roughly 1300 years of history. We explore ideologies, institutions, and practices of commerce in Muslim society, paying close attention to the actors, artifacts, and encounters, that gave it shape over the course of a millennium, ending with the onset of Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century.
Dell 1 105
TuTh 12:30pm - 1:45pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=20261
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HIST 5002 Global History: Microhistory, Macrohistory, and the Historian's Craft
Fahad Bishara
This course is designed to introduce students to questions of scale, connection, movement, and circulation in history writing. Over the course of the semester, we will think about the analytical and narrative choices we make as historians. But shifting scales between the micro and macro, we think about how to make the large scale past come to life.
New Cabell Hall 183
Mo 2:00pm - 4:30pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19368
Expand content
ANTH 3559 Palestine: Knowledge, Power, and People
Tessa Farmer
The Rotunda Room 150
TuTh 11:00am - 12:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19263
Expand content
GSGS 2000 Introduction to Global Studies
Tessa Farmer
This interdisciplinary course introduces students to critical global economic and cultural issues and examines globalization at a variety of scales of analysis (planetary, regional, national, individual). The goal is to provide understanding of the main conceptual approaches to global studies and thus enhance their ability to understand and evaluate important real-world issues and problems.
John W. Warner Hall 104
MoWe 3:30pm - 4:45pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19933
Expand content
ARAB 4245 & ARAB 5245 Readings in Classical Arabic Prose
Nizar Hermes
Students will gain insight and learn to appreciate some of the most influential "Arab" literary figures and some of the most celebrated classical Arabic prose masterpieces. Students will also broaden their critical and comparative perspectives with regard to some of the most important literary and cultural issues related to the overall poetics and politics of the Arabic-Islamic heritage.
New Cabell Hall 042
Tu 3:30pm - 6:00pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=13544
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=13545
Expand content
MEST 3492 & MEST 3492 The Afro-Arabs and Africans of the Middle East and North Africa
Nizar Hermes
This course offers an in-depth historical, philological, and socio-cultural exploration into the representation of the Afro-Arab and the African as depicted across a wide range of Arabic and Islamicate chronicles, saints' lives, and (mainly) folk epics, among sundry other genres. In the course of the semester, special attention will be given to significant moments in the history of Afro-Arab and Arab-African encounters.
New Cabell Hall 338
Mo 3:30pm - 6:00pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=13542
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=13543
Expand content
RELA 2750 African Religions
Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton
Introduces the mythology, ritual, philosophy, and religious art of the traditional religions of sub-Saharan Africa, also African versions of Christianity and African-American religions in the New World.
Gibson Hall 242
TuTh 2:00pm - 3:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19056
Expand content
RELG 1000 Questions in the Study of Religion
Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton
What is religion? Why do people reach out to God(s) or other unseen powers? How are beliefs in spiritual entities expressed and perpetuated? Why do people come together to form religious communities? How does religion order people's lives, and what impact have religious visionaries and institutions had on societies through the ages? This is a co-taught seminar that introduces students to the rich and interdisciplinary field of Religious Studies.
New Cabell Hall 132
TuTh 11:00am - 12:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=14003
Expand content
HIME 2002 The Making of the Modern Middle East
Caroline Kahlenberg
What historical processes that have shaped the Middle East of today? This course focuses on the history of a region stretching from Morocco in the West and Afghanistan in the East over the period of roughly 1500 to the present. In doing so, we examine political, social, and cultural history through the lens of "media" in translation, such as manuscripts, memoirs, maps, travel narratives, novels, films, music, internet media, and more.
Gibson Hall 211
TuTh 11:00am - 12:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19420
Expand content
MEST 3240 Israel/Palestine Through Literature and Film
Caroline Kahlenberg
This course will approach the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of literature and film. We will study memoirs, short stories, documentaries, and feature films in order to think about several broader historical themes, including: the relationship between religion and nationalism, the role of colonialism in the Middle East, the links between history and memory, and the meaning of homeland.
Pavilion VIII 102
We 3:30pm - 6:00pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=20412
Expand content
ANTH 2800 Introduction to Archaeology
Adria LaViolette
Topics include alternative theories of prehistoric culture change, dating methods, excavation and survey techniques, and the reconstruction of the economy, social organization, and religion of prehistoric societies.
Dell 1 105
MoWe 10:00am - 10:50am
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=10008
Expand content
MESA 3120 Classics of Islamic Literature: Islamic Mystical Writing
Shankar Nair
This course surveys the classics of Islamic mystical writing, spanning from the Middle East to South Asia and the Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Indian vernacular languages. With an eye to both form and content, we will examine the literary productions - both poetry and prose - of some of the most influential Sufi figures in Islamic history, including Rabi`a, Ibn al-Farid, Rumi, Hafiz, Khusrow, Bulleh Shah, and others. Readings in English translation.
New Cabell Hall 407
TuTh 12:30pm - 1:45pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19626
Expand content
RELI 5425 Islamic Philosophy & Theology
Shankar Nair
This course surveys the major developments within Islamic philosophy and theology from the classical to the early modern periods. Topics covered include the early theological schools (Ash'aris, Maturidis, Mu'tazilis), the transmission of Greek philosophy into Arabic, Peripatetic philosophy, Illuminationism, Shi'ite philosophy, and philosophical Sufism, concluding with the challenges faced by Islamic philosophy through the colonial and modern eras. This course has no prerequisites, but some previous experience in either Islamic studies or philosophy will be helpful.
Brooks Hall 103
Tu 3:30pm - 6:00pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19074
Expand content
SATR 3350 Languages of Love in South Asia: Bhakti and Beyond
Shankar Nair
The course explores some of the most influential literatures of love and devotion to emerge from the Indian subcontinent. Starting with the Bhagavad-Gita -- the first South Asian text to dwell upon the idea of bhakti or "devotion" -- then to various other "classics" of South Asian love literature, spanning the Sanskrit, Persian, Hindi-Urdu, Tamil, Punjabi, Kashmiri, and other languages. Emphasis will be placed on Hindu and Islamic literature.
New Cabell Hall 058
MoWe 2:00pm - 3:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=14015
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AAS 2500 Introduction to Afro-Latin America
Topics Course in Africana Studies
Fatima Siwaju
Shannon House 111
TuTh 9:30am - 10:45am
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=13166
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AAS 3500 Islam and the Black Experience
Intermediate Seminar in African-American & African Studies
Fatima Siwaju
New Cabell Hall 411
Th 2:00pm - 4:30pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19547
Expand content
MESA 2125 Gateway to the Middle East & South Asia
Samhita Sunya
From the ancient history of games like chess and backgammon, to sports like badminton and falconry, to the "Great Game" of imperial conquests, this course offers a theme-based gateway to the long-connected regions of the Middle East and South Asia. Over the semester, we'll explore this region of the world through short stories, films, tv shows, games themselves, and cameo visits by other faculty--all on the topic of "playing games"!
McLeod Hall 1003
MoWe 3:30pm - 4:45pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=14059
Expand content
MESA 3111 Film Festivals and Global Media Cultures: ME/SA Spotlight
Samhita Sunya
With an emphasis on transnational film festival histories and collective media cultures in the Middle East and South Asia, this course offers a semester-long study of film festivals, as an intersection of historical and media industry approaches to cinema. Tie-ins will include comparative analyses of local film cultures and film festivals.
New Cabell Hall 132
MoWe 2:00pm - 3:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=12450
Expand content
DEM 7500 Democracy and Belonging
Democracy Seminar I
Amir Syed, Indrani Chatterjee
The DI Seminar will provide a unique learning experience that combines interdisciplinary inquiry with diverse forms of scholarly engagement, opportunities to interact with distinguished guests, both academics and community leaders, from on and off-Grounds. The fall semester will be devoted to readings that explore critical, conceptual, and methodological problems on the seminar theme.
Th 2:00pm - 4:30pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=12701
Expand content
HIAF 3031 History of the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
Amir Syed
This course concerns the trans-Atlantic slave trade, with an emphasis on African history. Through interactive lectures, in-class discussions, written assignments and examinations of first-hand accounts by slaves and slavers, works of fiction and film, and analyses by historians, we will seek to understand one of the most tragic and horrifying phenomena in the history of the western world.
New Cabell Hall 309
TuTh 9:30am - 10:45am
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19369
Expand content
Expand content
RELI 2070 Classical Islam
Ahmed al-Rahim
Studies the Irano-Semitic background, Arabia, Muhammad and the Qur'an, the Hadith, law and theology, duties and devotional practices, sectarian developments, and Sufism.
John W. Warner Hall 104
MoWe 11:00am - 11:50am
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=13461
Expand content
COLA 1500 Memoirs of Jews from Arab Lands
College Advising Seminars
Jessica Andruss
COLA courses are 1-credit seminars capped at 18 first-year students, all of whom are assigned to the instructor as advisees. They are topically focused on an area identified by the faculty member; they also include a significant advising component centered on undergraduate issues (e.g., choosing a major, study abroad opportunities, undergraduate research, etc.). For detailed descriptions see http://college.as.virginia.edu/COLA
The Rotunda Room 150
Th 2:00pm - 3:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19078
Expand content
RELJ 2410 Intermediate Biblical Hebrew I
Jessica Andruss
Readings in the prose narratives of the Hebrew Bible. Emphasizes grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. Attention to issues of translation and interpretation. Prerequisite: HEBR/RELJ 1420 or the equivalent.
New Cabell Hall 038
TuTh 9:30am - 10:45am
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19078
Expand content
RELG 7360 Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion
Jessica Andruss
Given the multidisciplinary character of religious studies, it is imperative for new scholars to gain a basic sense of theoretical and methodological options in the field. By way of an examination of landmark texts, this course surveys the formation of religious studies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and considers some important contemporary approaches.
New Cabell Hall 042
Fr 2:00pm - 4:30pm
https://louslist.org/page.php?Semester=1248&Type=Search
Expand content
HIME 2003 Markets and the Making of the Muslim World: A History of Capitalism
Fahad Bishara
This course is designed to introduce students to the economic history of the Islamic World over the duration of roughly 1300 years of history. We explore ideologies, institutions, and practices of commerce in Muslim society, paying close attention to the actors, artifacts, and encounters, that gave it shape over the course of a millennium, ending with the onset of Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century.
Dell 1 105
TuTh 12:30pm - 1:45pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=20261
Expand content
HIST 5002 Global History: Microhistory, Macrohistory, and the Historian's Craft
Fahad Bishara
This course is designed to introduce students to questions of scale, connection, movement, and circulation in history writing. Over the course of the semester, we will think about the analytical and narrative choices we make as historians. But shifting scales between the micro and macro, we think about how to make the large scale past come to life.
New Cabell Hall 183
Mo 2:00pm - 4:30pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19368
Expand content
ANTH 3559 Palestine: Knowledge, Power, and People
Tessa Farmer
The Rotunda Room 150
TuTh 11:00am - 12:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19263
Expand content
GSGS 2000 Introduction to Global Studies
Tessa Farmer
This interdisciplinary course introduces students to critical global economic and cultural issues and examines globalization at a variety of scales of analysis (planetary, regional, national, individual). The goal is to provide understanding of the main conceptual approaches to global studies and thus enhance their ability to understand and evaluate important real-world issues and problems.
John W. Warner Hall 104
MoWe 3:30pm - 4:45pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19933
Expand content
ARAB 4245 & ARAB 5245 Readings in Classical Arabic Prose
Nizar Hermes
Students will gain insight and learn to appreciate some of the most influential "Arab" literary figures and some of the most celebrated classical Arabic prose masterpieces. Students will also broaden their critical and comparative perspectives with regard to some of the most important literary and cultural issues related to the overall poetics and politics of the Arabic-Islamic heritage.
New Cabell Hall 042
Tu 3:30pm - 6:00pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=13544
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=13545
Expand content
MEST 3492 & MEST 3492 The Afro-Arabs and Africans of the Middle East and North Africa
Nizar Hermes
This course offers an in-depth historical, philological, and socio-cultural exploration into the representation of the Afro-Arab and the African as depicted across a wide range of Arabic and Islamicate chronicles, saints' lives, and (mainly) folk epics, among sundry other genres. In the course of the semester, special attention will be given to significant moments in the history of Afro-Arab and Arab-African encounters.
New Cabell Hall 338
Mo 3:30pm - 6:00pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=13542
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=13543
Expand content
RELA 2750 African Religions
Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton
Introduces the mythology, ritual, philosophy, and religious art of the traditional religions of sub-Saharan Africa, also African versions of Christianity and African-American religions in the New World.
Gibson Hall 242
TuTh 2:00pm - 3:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19056
Expand content
RELG 1000 Questions in the Study of Religion
Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton
What is religion? Why do people reach out to God(s) or other unseen powers? How are beliefs in spiritual entities expressed and perpetuated? Why do people come together to form religious communities? How does religion order people's lives, and what impact have religious visionaries and institutions had on societies through the ages? This is a co-taught seminar that introduces students to the rich and interdisciplinary field of Religious Studies.
New Cabell Hall 132
TuTh 11:00am - 12:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=14003
Expand content
HIME 2002 The Making of the Modern Middle East
Caroline Kahlenberg
What historical processes that have shaped the Middle East of today? This course focuses on the history of a region stretching from Morocco in the West and Afghanistan in the East over the period of roughly 1500 to the present. In doing so, we examine political, social, and cultural history through the lens of "media" in translation, such as manuscripts, memoirs, maps, travel narratives, novels, films, music, internet media, and more.
Gibson Hall 211
TuTh 11:00am - 12:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19420
Expand content
MEST 3240 Israel/Palestine Through Literature and Film
Caroline Kahlenberg
This course will approach the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the lens of literature and film. We will study memoirs, short stories, documentaries, and feature films in order to think about several broader historical themes, including: the relationship between religion and nationalism, the role of colonialism in the Middle East, the links between history and memory, and the meaning of homeland.
Pavilion VIII 102
We 3:30pm - 6:00pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=20412
Expand content
ANTH 2800 Introduction to Archaeology
Adria LaViolette
Topics include alternative theories of prehistoric culture change, dating methods, excavation and survey techniques, and the reconstruction of the economy, social organization, and religion of prehistoric societies.
Dell 1 105
MoWe 10:00am - 10:50am
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=10008
Expand content
MESA 3120 Classics of Islamic Literature: Islamic Mystical Writing
Shankar Nair
This course surveys the classics of Islamic mystical writing, spanning from the Middle East to South Asia and the Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Indian vernacular languages. With an eye to both form and content, we will examine the literary productions - both poetry and prose - of some of the most influential Sufi figures in Islamic history, including Rabi`a, Ibn al-Farid, Rumi, Hafiz, Khusrow, Bulleh Shah, and others. Readings in English translation.
New Cabell Hall 407
TuTh 12:30pm - 1:45pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19626
Expand content
RELI 5425 Islamic Philosophy & Theology
Shankar Nair
This course surveys the major developments within Islamic philosophy and theology from the classical to the early modern periods. Topics covered include the early theological schools (Ash'aris, Maturidis, Mu'tazilis), the transmission of Greek philosophy into Arabic, Peripatetic philosophy, Illuminationism, Shi'ite philosophy, and philosophical Sufism, concluding with the challenges faced by Islamic philosophy through the colonial and modern eras. This course has no prerequisites, but some previous experience in either Islamic studies or philosophy will be helpful.
Brooks Hall 103
Tu 3:30pm - 6:00pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19074
Expand content
SATR 3350 Languages of Love in South Asia: Bhakti and Beyond
Shankar Nair
The course explores some of the most influential literatures of love and devotion to emerge from the Indian subcontinent. Starting with the Bhagavad-Gita -- the first South Asian text to dwell upon the idea of bhakti or "devotion" -- then to various other "classics" of South Asian love literature, spanning the Sanskrit, Persian, Hindi-Urdu, Tamil, Punjabi, Kashmiri, and other languages. Emphasis will be placed on Hindu and Islamic literature.
New Cabell Hall 058
MoWe 2:00pm - 3:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=14015
Expand content
AAS 2500 Introduction to Afro-Latin America
Topics Course in Africana Studies
Fatima Siwaju
Shannon House 111
TuTh 9:30am - 10:45am
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=13166
Expand content
AAS 3500 Islam and the Black Experience
Intermediate Seminar in African-American & African Studies
Fatima Siwaju
New Cabell Hall 411
Th 2:00pm - 4:30pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19547
Expand content
MESA 2125 Gateway to the Middle East & South Asia
Samhita Sunya
From the ancient history of games like chess and backgammon, to sports like badminton and falconry, to the "Great Game" of imperial conquests, this course offers a theme-based gateway to the long-connected regions of the Middle East and South Asia. Over the semester, we'll explore this region of the world through short stories, films, tv shows, games themselves, and cameo visits by other faculty--all on the topic of "playing games"!
McLeod Hall 1003
MoWe 3:30pm - 4:45pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=14059
Expand content
MESA 3111 Film Festivals and Global Media Cultures: ME/SA Spotlight
Samhita Sunya
With an emphasis on transnational film festival histories and collective media cultures in the Middle East and South Asia, this course offers a semester-long study of film festivals, as an intersection of historical and media industry approaches to cinema. Tie-ins will include comparative analyses of local film cultures and film festivals.
New Cabell Hall 132
MoWe 2:00pm - 3:15pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=12450
Expand content
DEM 7500 Democracy and Belonging
Democracy Seminar I
Amir Syed, Indrani Chatterjee
The DI Seminar will provide a unique learning experience that combines interdisciplinary inquiry with diverse forms of scholarly engagement, opportunities to interact with distinguished guests, both academics and community leaders, from on and off-Grounds. The fall semester will be devoted to readings that explore critical, conceptual, and methodological problems on the seminar theme.
Th 2:00pm - 4:30pm
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=12701
Expand content
HIAF 3031 History of the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
Amir Syed
This course concerns the trans-Atlantic slave trade, with an emphasis on African history. Through interactive lectures, in-class discussions, written assignments and examinations of first-hand accounts by slaves and slavers, works of fiction and film, and analyses by historians, we will seek to understand one of the most tragic and horrifying phenomena in the history of the western world.
New Cabell Hall 309
TuTh 9:30am - 10:45am
https://louslist.org/sectiontip.php?Semester=1248&ClassNumber=19369