Problems and Methods in Arab Crossroads Studies

This seminar aims to, on the one hand, introduce students to the main theoretical and epistemological trends in the study of the Arab Crossroads region, and on the other, to offer practical examples of the types of methodologies used by scholars working in the humanities and the qualitative social sciences. The course begins with a critical engagement with the strengths and weaknesses of area studies, and the politics of producing knowledge on a region that is of such global economic and political importance. It then turns to specific areas of research that have attracted considerable attention in the fields of history, anthropology, literature, and politics, before exploring the various methodological approaches used by practitioners of these fields. The course assignments include response papers, short essays on specific debates in relevant scholarship, transcribed interviews, and culminate in an extended research proposal for a capstone project.