WiSe 20/21: Interdisciplinary and/or Inter-Institutional master's degree programs

• Histories and Societies of the Middle East

  0593aB1.1

  Learning objectives:

  Students have in-depth knowledge and understanding of the historical and social formations of the Near and Middle East ... read more

  Learning objectives:

  Students have in-depth knowledge and understanding of the historical and social formations of the Near and Middle East from late antiquity to the present as well as the historical conditions since antiquity. They are familiar with important current theoretical and methodological debates in social history research that are relevant to the study of the Near and Middle East. Students can recognize, classify, and articulate the circumstances and problems surrounding socialhistorical descriptions of the Near and Middle East; they also know how to consult, evaluate, and interpret source material independently and to apply the tools of history and social sciences when dealing with questions they have developed themselves. They are aware of the central categories of analysis used to examine historical and social processes and know how to discuss and present the results of their scholarly analyses orally and in writing.

  Content:

  In this module, students engage intensively with complex topics such as periodization, dimensions of space (power centers vs. peripheral regions, transregional connections), governance, statehood and social groups as well as identity, mobility, communication, and ethnic and religious minorities. The module teaches them to reflect on topics from the fields of Arab-Islamic, Arab-Christian and Syrian-Christian, Byzantine, Persian, Jewish or Turkish history as well as from historical source studies considering theories and methods specific to historical and social science and by critically evaluating scholarly debates in these fields.

  Modes of instruction/ Contact hours / Regular attendance required

  Elective course / 2 SWS / yes

  Elective course / 2 SWS / yes

  Module assessment

  Written assignment (approx. 5000 words)

  Language

  English (or if applicable, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Syriac-Aramaic,Turkish)

  Total workload

  450 hours (15 credit points)

  duration / Frequency

  One or two semesters / Every semester close
  Module with no course offerings

• Traditions of Texts and Knowledge in the Middle East

  0593aB1.2

  Learning objectives:

  Students have a thorough understanding of the emergence and systematization of various traditions of knowledge and texts ... read more

  Learning objectives:

  Students have a thorough understanding of the emergence and systematization of various traditions of knowledge and texts in the Near and Middle East, including their presentation and mediality, as well as the people involved in those traditions and the authority associated with them regarding religious, social and epistemological structures, especially from the beginnings of Islam to the present. They are aware of the historical and contemporary processes of collective formation and positioning of identity in cultures of knowledge and texts in the Near and Middle East; they have a conceptual toolkit of established theories and methods from the history of knowledge, cultural studies, and philology, which allows them to reflect on sources from different knowledge and text cultures and to present the results of their analyses orally and in writing appropriately.

  Content:

  The module deals with the history and current significance of textual cultures and knowledge cultures from the Near and Middle East, especially from the beginnings of Islam to the present day. This includes, on the one hand, the reception and further development of antiquity’s legacy in natural sciences and humanities (in philosophy, logic, mysticism, etc.) as well as scientific literature in the broadest sense through the centuries and, on the other hand, normative traditions, such as the exegesis of sacred texts as well as the study of traditions, norms, dogmatics, hagiography, religious ethics, or rituals. One focus is on the cultural and intellectual history of the Arabic-speaking world, Jewish history of knowledge and the relationship between Judaism and Islam as well as facets of the Christian Orient and Iranian religions in the past and present.

  Modes of instruction/ Contact hours / Regular attendance required

  Elective course / 2 SWS / yes

  Elective course / 2 SWS / yes

  Module assessment

  Written assignment (approx. 5000 words)

  Language

  English (or if applicable, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Syriac-Aramaic,Turkish)

  Total workload

  450 hours (15 credit points)

  duration / Frequency

  One or two semesters / Every semester close
  Module with no course offerings

• Languages of the Middle East

  0593aB1.3

  Learning objectives:

  Students can reflect critically on linguistic developments in the Near and Middle East drawing from the most important ... read more

  Learning objectives:

  Students can reflect critically on linguistic developments in the Near and Middle East drawing from the most important primary and secondary sources. They know the principles of classifying languages of the region (e.g. historically, comparatively, typologically, regionally) and are confident in applying various methods from empirical linguistics to the languages of the region (e.g. language documentation, field research, dialectology, variational linguistics, sociolinguistics). They know how to make use of models and examples demonstrating the complex interrelationship between language and society in different historical contexts; they can examine oral and written sources independently regarding linguistic issues and to present their observations in oral and written form in a structured and logical way.

  Content:

  The courses provide an overview of the region’s language groups, their historical sources, and their current classification (e.g. Semitic, Iranian, Turkish); furthermore, the module surveys linguistic ecology regarding topics such as nation states, minorities, gender, regional languages, diglossia, writing systems, and linguistic ideologies.

  Modes of instruction/ Contact hours / Regular attendance required

  Elective course / 2 SWS / yes

  Elective course / 2 SWS / yes

  Module assessment

  Written assignment (approx. 5000 words)

  Language

  English (or if applicable, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Syriac-Aramaic,Turkish)

  Total workload

  450 hours (15 credit points)

  duration / Frequency

  One or two semesters / Every semester close
  Module with no course offerings

• Literatures of the Middle East in their Social Dimensions

  0593aB1.4

  Learning objectives:

  Students develop their analytical skills in the scholarly handling of written and oral sources from the Near and Middle ... read more

  Learning objectives:

  Students develop their analytical skills in the scholarly handling of written and oral sources from the Near and Middle East; they have an awareness of the origins and reception of literary production in the past and present. They can approach research questions in a methodologically and terminologically reflective manner based on various genres of texts and literary phenomena; they know how to evaluate secondary literature as well as the most important primary sources critically, and to describe, analyze and classify them historically and aesthetically. They can recognize connections and intertextual references and understand and historically contextualize mutual influences, continuities, and ruptures. They strengthen their ability to reflect and reason complex, multilingual, transregional matters. They are skilled to reflect their approaches to research questions and to present their analyses orally and in writing appropriately.

  Content:

  The module deals with selected epochs, authors, genres, language levels of the Near and Middle East or of a specific literary genre, using the most important sources and critically illuminating specialist literature. The courses provide an overview of partial epochs or literary genres, including debates concerning specific literary, social and gender-historical research problems. Students discuss significant texts in the regional languages regarding authorship, production processes, and media representations, as well as to influences and patterns of perception that have an impact on the literary reception from the regions of the Near and Middle East; thereby, they experiment with theoretical approaches to interpretation of sources from Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Syriac-Aramaic, or Turkish literature.

  Modes of instruction/ Contact hours / Regular attendance required

  Elective course / 2 SWS / yes

  Elective course / 2 SWS / yes

  Module assessment

  Written assignment (approx. 5000 words)

  Language

  English (or if applicable, Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Syriac-Aramaic,Turkish)

  Total workload

  450 hours (15 credit points)

  duration / Frequency

  One or two semesters / Every semester close
  Module with no course offerings