Graduate Courses

Spring 2025

ARABIC 250 – Seminar: Premodern Arabic Literature
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Cooperson, M.D.
Course Description: Seminar, three hours. Readings in Arabic texts from variety of periods and genres, along with appropriate secondary literature. Topics include pre-Islamic poetry and oratory, Qur’an, Umayyad and Abbasid poetry and literary prose, Hadith and Fiqh, historiography, biography, geography, medicine, mathematics, theology, asceticism, and mysticism. May be repeated for maximum of 24 units. S/U or letter grading.

ART HIS 220B – Advanced Studies in Islamic ArtLecture: Lec 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Balafrej, L.
Course Description
Seminar, three hours. Monuments or theoretical problems related to Islamic culture and artistic production. May be repeated for credit with consent of adviser. S/U or letter grading.

ART HIS 225B – Early Modern Art
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Black, C.V.
Course Description
Seminar, three hours. Emphasis on selected topic (e.g., particular artist, trend, or problem). Research papers and oral reports required. Language requirements depend on area of focus. May be repeated for credit with consent of adviser. S/U or letter grading.

CHIN 285B – Seminar: Readings in Chinese Religions
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Balkwill, S.
Course Description
Seminar, three hours. Preparation: reading knowledge of classical Chinese. Selected readings from religious traditions of China, with introduction to different disciplinary approaches, secondary scholarship, and research methodology. Topics rotate among chronological periods and major religious traditions. May be repeated for credit with consent of instructor. Letter grading.

CHIN 297A – Seminar: Research Topics in Premodern China
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Wu, Y.
Course Description
Seminar, three hours. Selected topics in premodern Chinese literature, history, or religion, with emphasis on textual readings and independent research. S/U or letter grading.

CLUSTER M27CW – Global Islam: Special Topics: Health and Illness in Muslim World
Seminar: Sem 2
Units: 6
Instructors: Aral, I., Yarbrough, L.B.
Course Description
(Formerly numbered 27CW.) (Same as Islamic Studies M27CW.) Seminar, three hours. Enforced requisite: course M27B. Introduction to Islam, immensely diverse global tradition which is second largest religion. Study of Islam and Muslims within framework of study of global religious traditions and emphasis on profound diversity of localized belief and practice found across world. Examination of Islam’s evolution across 15 centuries, from late antiquity–when it emerged as localized religion in Central Arabia–to modern era where it is practice from U.S. to Indonesia. Concentration on broad analytical categories in study of religion such as text, culture, history, and prophecy. Students transition to more complex analyses through chronological overview of Islamic history. Study also of case studies of Muslim global networks in arenas such as art, music, literature, and political thought. Satisfies Writing II requirement. Letter grading.

CLUSTER M27CW – Global Islam: Special Topics: Islam and Politics in Sudan
Seminar: Sem 5
Units: 6
Instructors: Mousa, N., Yarbrough, L.B.
Course Description
(Formerly numbered 27CW.) (Same as Islamic Studies M27CW.) Seminar, three hours. Enforced requisite: course M27B. Introduction to Islam, immensely diverse global tradition which is second largest religion. Study of Islam and Muslims within framework of study of global religious traditions and emphasis on profound diversity of localized belief and practice found across world. Examination of Islam’s evolution across 15 centuries, from late antiquity–when it emerged as localized religion in Central Arabia–to modern era where it is practice from U.S. to Indonesia. Concentration on broad analytical categories in study of religion such as text, culture, history, and prophecy. Students transition to more complex analyses through chronological overview of Islamic history. Study also of case studies of Muslim global networks in arenas such as art, music, literature, and political thought. Satisfies Writing II requirement. Letter grading.

CLUSTER M27CW – Global Islam: Special Topics: Language, Power, and Identity: Interdisciplinary Exploration of Islam
Seminar: Sem 3
Units: 6
Instructors: Khoshsirat, Z., Yarbrough, L.B.
Course Description
(Formerly numbered 27CW.) (Same as Islamic Studies M27CW.) Seminar, three hours. Enforced requisite: course M27B. Introduction to Islam, immensely diverse global tradition which is second largest religion. Study of Islam and Muslims within framework of study of global religious traditions and emphasis on profound diversity of localized belief and practice found across world. Examination of Islam’s evolution across 15 centuries, from late antiquity–when it emerged as localized religion in Central Arabia–to modern era where it is practice from U.S. to Indonesia. Concentration on broad analytical categories in study of religion such as text, culture, history, and prophecy. Students transition to more complex analyses through chronological overview of Islamic history. Study also of case studies of Muslim global networks in arenas such as art, music, literature, and political thought. Satisfies Writing II requirement. Letter grading.

CLUSTER M27CW – Global Islam: Special Topics: Love in Muslim Literature
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 6
Instructors: Malik, A.A., Yarbrough, L.B.
Course Description
(Formerly numbered 27CW.) (Same as Islamic Studies M27CW.) Seminar, three hours. Enforced requisite: course M27B. Introduction to Islam, immensely diverse global tradition which is second largest religion. Study of Islam and Muslims within framework of study of global religious traditions and emphasis on profound diversity of localized belief and practice found across world. Examination of Islam’s evolution across 15 centuries, from late antiquity–when it emerged as localized religion in Central Arabia–to modern era where it is practice from U.S. to Indonesia. Concentration on broad analytical categories in study of religion such as text, culture, history, and prophecy. Students transition to more complex analyses through chronological overview of Islamic history. Study also of case studies of Muslim global networks in arenas such as art, music, literature, and political thought. Satisfies Writing II requirement. Letter grading.

COM LIT 290 – Contemporary Theories of Criticism: Indigenous Intervention in Literary Studies
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Martinez, N.
Course Description
How does comparative literary study change when it engages with indigenous epistemologies? Students learn to seek comparative literary study methods that consider broader epistemologies for recorded knowledge and creative media. Study utilizes work of indigenous and indigenous studies scholars. Texts cover development of academic disciplines, such as anthropology and literary studies, to examine ramifications of their approaches on indigenous peoples. Study also covers indigenizing approaches that develop modes of engagement through native ways of knowing, such as ts’íib and cosmolectics. By expanding repertoire for recognizing and engaging forms that go beyond literary framework, study cultivates dialogue across indigenous and nonindigenous communities. Authors include Gloria Chacón (Ch’orti’), Linda Tuhiwai Smith (Maori), and Gerald Vizenor (Chippewa), among others.

ENGL 244 – Old and Medieval English Literature
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Chism, C.N.
Course Description
Seminar, four hours. Studies in poetry and prose of Old and medieval English literature; limits of investigation set by individual instructor. May be repeated for credit. S/U or letter grading.

GREEK 222B – Plato
Lecture: Lec 1
Units: 2/4
Instructor: Morgan, K.A.
Course Description
Lecture, three hours. Requisite: course 222A. S/U (2-unit course) or letter (4-unit course) grading.

HIST 201D – Topics in History: Early Modern Europe: Truth and Truthfulness in Historical Enquiry: Nietzsche, Foucault, and Genealogy
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Stacey, P.J.
Course Description
Examination of truth and truthfulness concepts in work of two modern philosophers: Friedrich Nietzsche and Michel Foucault. These thinkers are often grouped together as proponents of genealogical approach to philosophical thinking and historical writing, and for good reason: in 1971, Foucault published essay on method at work in Nietzsche’s On the Genealogy of Morality of 1887, and subsequently adopted term genealogy to describe some of his own texts. One aim of study is to draw attention to historical character of these thinkers’ attempts to explicate meaning of truth and truthfulness, and to consider some implications of their claims for historical discipline. Study is fundamentally interdisciplinary in its approach to texts.

CMRS-CEGS Graduate Research Seminar
HIST C208A – Money in World History
Lecture: Lec 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Koh, C.
Course Description
Money is key to understanding the social order of any community, past and present; finance, which facilitates the transfer and contracting of value, mediates the community’s relationship to its future. This graduate-level historiography course introduces students to important debates in the field of monetary history, including the price revolution, the financial revolution, the big problem of small change, the softening and hardening of currencies, and the emergence (invention) of public debt.

HIST 282B – Seminar: Chinese History
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Zhang, M.
Course Description
Seminar, three hours. Requisite: course 282A. Letter grading.

I E STD 280B – Seminar: Indo-European Linguistics: Survey of Old Iranian Languages
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 2-4
Instructor: Jamison, S.
Class Description
Introduction to language, linguistics, and textual materials of Old Persian, Younger Avestan, and Old Avestan. Designed for Indo-Europeanists and others whose work has linguistic focus.

I E STD 281A – Seminar: Indo-European Linguistics
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 2
Instructor: Jamison, S.
Course Description
Seminar, three hours. Requisite: course 210. Selected topics in Indo-European comparative grammar for advanced graduate students. May be repeated for credit. S/U or letter grading.

ISLM ST C251 – Islamic Thought
Lecture: Lec 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Yarbrough, L.B.
Course Description
Lecture, three hours. Recommended requisite: introductory course on Islam or instructor consent. Introduction to major fields of inquiry and debate in Islamic studies (e.g., exegesis, Hadith, law, theology, Sufism). Focus on selected topics of debate such as nature of God, jihad, hijab, or pilgrimage. Concurrently scheduled with course C151. Letter grading.

LATIN 210 – Advanced Latin Prose Composition
Lecture: Lec 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Spielberg, L.M.
Course Description
Lecture, three hours. Requisite: course 110. S/U or letter grading.

LATIN 250 – Topical Studies of Ancient Rome: Archaeology of the Subaltern
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 2/4
Instructor: Beckmann, S.E.
Course Description:
Investigation of subalternity in Roman world, with attention to histories of groups such as women, children, poor, enslaved, and ethnic and religious others. Study uses archaeology and material culture, epigraphic evidence, and literary testimony in translation. Study designed for students to better understand power dynamics and systems of oppression and subjugation at work in classical antiquity, together with possible and practical avenues of resistance practiced by certain populations groups. Students engage with theoretical readings and comparative analysis. Larger themes include historiography and future of subaltern studies in classical antiquity; and potentials and pitfalls of working with fragmentary evidence. Consideration of avenues that might be used to more holistically and responsibly recover, reconstruct, and amplify voices of marginalized groups in Roman world.

MUSCLG 248 – Seminar: Special Topics in Musicology
Seminar: Sem 2
Units: 4
Instructor: Favila, C.D.
Course Description
Seminar, three hours. Exploration of topics in musicology through variety of approaches that may include historical, theoretical, or analytical approaches to subjects within musicology. Topics announced in advance. May be repeated for credit. Letter grading.

MUSCLG 248 – Seminar: Special Topics in Musicology
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Favila, C.D.
Course Description
Seminar, three hours. Exploration of topics in musicology through variety of approaches that may include historical, theoretical, or analytical approaches to subjects within musicology. Topics announced in advance. May be repeated for credit. Letter grading.

POL SCI 218 – Selected Topics in Political Theory: Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Populism
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Pagden, A.R.
Course Description
Examination of three most salient political ideologies in use today: cosmopolitanism, nationalism, and populism. Study asks just what they are, particularly difficult in case of populism; how they arose; how much they differ from each other; and what their inevitably checkered futures might be. Students present paper on one or more chosen text.

WL ARTS 220 – Seminar: Culture and Performance
Seminar: Sem 1
Units: 4
Instructor: Banerji, A.
Course Description
Seminar, three hours; outside study, nine hours. Designed for graduate students. Variable topics in interdisciplinary study of expressive culture, arts, and performance in social and historical context. May be repeated for credit with topic change. S/U or letter grading.