Continued intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew.

This course is for students who have minimal or no prior knowledge of Persian focusing on reading, writing and conversation. Students start by learning how to write and pronounce the sound and alphabet, how to connect letters to form basic vocabulary in Persian in order to express basic ideas orally and in writing; then they develop their language comprehension through expanding their vocabulary and grammar. By the end of the course, students’ skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in Persian improves and they should be able to read, write and translate sentences in Persian at intermediate low level.

This course is designed to provide an introduction to Turkish for learners with no previous experience with the language. A variety of speaking, listening, reading, and writing activities will be included to develop both spoken and written language skills. By the end of the course, students will be able to carry out basic conversations in Turkish in everyday social encounters, have a grasp of the basics of the Turkish grammar, and understand elementary texts such as simple excerpts from news articles or literary works. They will also have gained a basic understanding of the cultural contexts in which Turkish is spoken.

Introduction to Old Babylonian. Grammar and the reading of selected texts.

This course assumes active knowledge of the content covered in NML210Y1. As the course progresses, students are introduced to increasingly complex morphological and syntactic patterns of Arabic. This is achieved through analysis of texts covering a wide range of genres. By the end of the course, students are expected to achieve advanced level of proficiency.

This course is an intensive study of various Aramaic Bible translations (Targumim) to the Pentateuch: Onkelos, Pseudo-Jonathan, Neophyti, Samaritan and Syriac (both transliterated into Hebrew letters), and Fragment Targumim. A comparative study of the Targumim will be made in reference to vocabulary, syntax, verb usage, and translation strategies. We will address their relationship to the Palestinian midrashim. Students will learn to use the online Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon and the relevant dictionaries and grammars. The texts studied will be from legal sections of the Pentateuch, generally from Deuteronomy on levirate marriage or war captives, Exodus on abortion and personal injury, as well as narrative sections from Genesis such as the Garden of Eden, the binding of Isaac, and the accounts of the Matriarchs.

A continuation of NML240Y1, in which the student is exposed to a wide range of hieroglyphic texts in the Middle Egyptian dialect. Sources of historical, literary, religious, and economic significance will be studied. The grammar and syntax covered in NML240Y1 are reviewed intensively.

A continuation of the study of ancient Hebrew grammar and texts. Focus is given to covering a wide variety of genres, e.g., narrative, chronicle, genealogy, oracle, prayer, hymn, and proverb.

A continuation of the study of ancient Hebrew grammar and texts. Focus is given to covering a wide variety of genres, e.g., narrative, chronicle, genealogy, oracle, prayer, hymn, and proverb.

Advanced intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew.

Continued advanced intensive study of written and spoken Hebrew.

This course is an introduction to the exegetical methods of the rabbinic sages in their analysis of biblical texts, with special attention to issues of intertextuality. After a quick overview of the genres of midrashic literature, we shall examine the midrashic methods used to transition from the biblical text to the midrash. Our main focus will be on Original Sin in the Garden of Eden and its repercussions. Our primary texts will be Bereishit Rabbah, Avot de Rabbi Natan, and Alphabeta deBen Sirah. We shall follow these midrashim in other midrash collections such as Midrash HaGadol, Tanhuma, Bereishit Rabbati, and Aggadat Bereishit. The motif of Original Sin has had significant reverberations in Judaism and Christianity and societies influenced by these traditions.

This course introduces Mishnah and Tosefta which are two of the three foundational documents of Middle Hebrew I from the Tannaitic period ending circa 250 CE in the Galilee. In addition to studying specific features of this level of Hebrew (e.g. syntax, grammar, vocabulary), we shall examine these compositions independently and analyze their interaction (textuality and intertextuality). Students will read recent scholarly literature on these documents and their relationship to each other and to orality. Students will be introduced to the manuscripts of these documents and the variant readings will be studied philologically. Decisions on original readings will be made. Finally, we shall explore redaction and source critical issues allowing identifications of anonymous statements with specific authorities (sages). The Tractate may vary from year to year.

This course introduces the student to Talmudic texts through selections from a particular tractate for representative study. We shall study the Mishnah of the chapter in preparation for the Talmud. Recognition of the dialogic structure of the legal discussions centered on the Mishnah and its elucidation is emphasized. The classical commentaries (Rashi, Tosafot, R. Hananel), the use of dictionaries, concordances, biographies of sages, parallels and other sources will gradually become familiar to the student as aids in understanding the text under consideration. A brief presentation of the essential features of Babylonian Aramaic will be included in the course to facilitate study. Students will also be taught to make use of the Bar Ilan Responsa Project, the Lieberman database, and the Friedberg Jewish Manuscript Society database. We shall also discuss redactional issues as they appear.

This course is an intermediate/advanced level of Persian language for students who passed NML260Y1 or demonstrate commensurate Persian skills. The course continues to develop students’ Persian language knowledge by focusing on more complex readings, writing, grammatical structure, translation, audio/visual, and conversational activities such as group discussion, language games, movies, dialogue, and playing roles at an advanced level. By the end of this course, students are able to reach the intermediate high/advanced level of proficiency in Persian. The course also serves as preparation for courses on classical and contemporary Persian literature.

An introduction to the grammar and syntax of Middle Persian, or Pahlavi, language; the special script it was written in; and the connections of Pahlavi to Old Persian and New Persian languages. Knowledge of Pahlavi provides access to the most important Zoroastrian religious texts, and the epic and wisdom literature composed during the period of the Sasanian empire (3rd–7th centuries CE) and early Islamic Iran (8th–10th centuries CE). Students will read excerpts, in the original Pahlavi, from such works as Arda Wiraz Namag (Book of the Righteous Wiraz, describing his journey to heaven and hell), Karnamag i Ardakhshir i Pabagan (Chronicle of Ardakhshir, Son of Pabag, narrating the deeds of the first Sasanian king), and Bundahishn (Primordial Creation, on Zoroastrian cosmology).

This course is designed for students who have already completed NML270Y1 Introductory Turkish or have an equivalent level of proficiency in Turkish. It aims to expand students’ communicative skills, grammatical knowledge, and vocabulary. A variety of intermediate-level speaking, listening, reading, and writing activities will be included to further develop both spoken and written language skills. By the end of the course, students will be able to read, understand, and translate various authentic texts of intermediate difficulty. They will be able to write short essays and talk about a wide range of general topics. They will also have gained a deeper understanding of the cultural contexts in which Turkish is spoken. The course also serves as a preparation for the advanced study of Turkish.

This course is designed for students who wish to consolidate their communicative and conversational skills in Turkish. Emphasis is placed on improving listening and speaking skills in diverse formal and informal contexts to prepare the students for real-life oral communication situations. Students will gain experience with different styles and registers while also improving their grasp of the Turkish culture.

This dynamic Turkish language course aims to enhance students’ proficiency through Turkish television series which have gained significant international popularity in recent years and through Turkish films from both classical and modern “Yeşilçam”, the Turkish cinema industry. The course will also familiarize the students with the use of the Turkish language in traditional and social media. By the end of the course, students will have improved their receptive, expressive, and interactional skills in spoken and written modalities.

This course continues the study of Ge'ez (Classical Ethiopic) grammar and progresses to a survey of classical Ge’ez literature. Linguistic connections to Amharic and Tigrinye will also be introduced.

This intermediate Akkadian course is devoted to the study of the literary Akkadian dialect of the late second and first millennia, usually known as Standard Babylonian. Students will read excerpts of literary texts and royal inscriptions in R. Borger’s Babylonisch-Assyrische Lesestücke and eventually proceed to more ambitious compositions such as The Annals of Sennacherib and Enuma Elish. Students are also expected to deepen their knowledge of the NeoAssyrian cuneiform script. (Offered in alternate years)

This course assumes active knowledge of the content covered in NML310Y. Its goal is to strengthen the students reading and writing skills, refine their knowledge of syntax and morphological patterns, and enrich their cultural background. This is achieved through analysis of sophisticated authentic texts covering a wide range of genres. In addition, Classical Arabic literary texts will be incrementally introduced. By the end of the course, students are expected to reach a superior level of proficiency.

This course familiarizes advanced students of Arabic with structural properties, styles, and discourse features of the language used in the Arabic media. Class time is devoted to analysis of authentic texts covering a wide range of topics and drawn from various online media outlets.

This class surveys the rich and varied literary prose tradition in the Arabic language to the Mamluk period. These works are frequently referenced in modern Arabic literature, in addition to being beautiful and intellectually challenging in their own right. We will read essayistic epistles, advice guides, debates, sermons, and narrative works of a variety of genres, including, maqamat, anecdotes, and fables. All readings are in the original Arabic. The course focuses equally on developing reading skills specific to classical Arabic texts, and on developing an ability to analyze the themes, literary techniques, generic features, and ideas within those texts. We also consider the historical development of a distinct branch of knowledge called adab, that canonized many of these works.

The main focus for this course is reading poems by a variety of poets in the original Arabic. Class discussion focuses on how to decipher the lines of poetry using appropriate reference works, as well as close reading, rhetorical figures, historical context, and the shifting aesthetics of various poetic movements. Weekly exercises build to the study of the Arabic metric system. The course usually addresses a specific theme: for example, early Abbasid love poems selected to study the development of the concept of a culturally refined individual (zarif) in the context of the “rhetorical style” (badi‘) of “new” (muhdath) poetry.

This course examines the origins and development of the modern Arabic short story as a literary genre by reading selected works in Arabic of major figures in the genre. The course historicizes the emergence of the short story, exploring the genre’s consolidation as a major literary form in Arabic in the early 20th century. As part of an exploration of modern narrative in Arabic, students will read literary criticism that theorizes the emergence of modern Arabic narrative prose, paying close attention to questions of language, form, style and theme. The course also focuses on issues such as innovations in narrative technique, plot structure, complexity of characterization, and point of view. Authors include Mahmud Tahir Lashin, Yusif Idris, Zakariyya Tamir, Ghada al-Samman, Hanan al-Shaykh, and Fu’ad al-Takarli.

The Talmud of the Land of Israel, also called Talmud Yerushalmi or Palestinian Talmud, is written in a mixture of Jewish Western Aramaic and Middle Hebrew. It is the principal document of the Land of Israel in Late Antiquity. The course examines the legal argumentation, terminology and language which differ from those of the Babylonian Talmud. Recognition of the dialogical structure of the legal discussions concerning the Mishnah and its elucidation will be emphasized. Terminology, grammar, and syntax of Western Aramaic will be addressed. We shall also investigate when the text uses Hebrew versus Aramaic. Students will be taught the use of the Bar Ilan Responsa Project and the Lieberman bibliographic database. Close attention will be paid to its relationship to Tosefta.

This course is primarily a reading course in Syriac literature with reference to specific points in grammar and syntax as contrasted with Aramaic. The texts are read with reference to the history of Syriac literature.

This is an advanced language seminar that introduces the student to the analysis, in terms of both language/grammar and content, of Ancient Egyptian texts of historical significance. Texts from the periods of the Old Kingdom up to the Late Period will be studied, and all texts will be read in the (mostly Middle Egyptian) original. Particular attention will be paid to the cultural and social context of the texts, and questions such as how to best define “historical texts,” and to what extent literary texts may be used as historical sources, will be discussed.