Surveys the major political, socio-economic, and cultural changes in the Middle East from the rise of Islam to present times (A.D. 600-2002), with special emphasis on Islam's encounter with the West. Examines the rise and fall of Islamic empires; the place of Arabs, Persian and Turkic peoples, as well as minorities in Islamic society; scientific and technological achievements and their transmission to the West; and the impact of European expansion after 1800. Considers contemporary crises and upheavals facing the Middle East in light of the historical past. This course aims to provide students with a general overview of basic themes and issues in Middle Eastern history from the rise of Islam to the present, with an emphasis on the encounters and exchanges between the "Middle East" (Southwest Asia and North Africa) and the "West" (Europe and the United States).

" This class explores the creation (and creativity) of the modern scientific and cultural world through study of western Europe in the 17th century, the age of Descartes and Newton, Shakespeare, Milton and Ford. It compares period thinking to present-day debates about the scientific method, art, religion, and society. This team-taught, interdisciplinary subject draws on a wide range of literary, dramatic, historical, and scientific texts and images, and involves theatrical experimentation as well as reading, writing, researching and conversing. The primary theme of the class is to explore how England in the mid-seventeenth century became "a world turned upside down" by the new ideas and upheavals in religion, politics, and philosophy, ideas that would shape our modern world. Paying special attention to the "theatricality" of the new models and perspectives afforded by scientific experimentation, the class will read plays by Shakespeare, Tate, Brecht, Ford, Churchill, and Kushner, as well as primary and secondary texts from a wide range of disciplines. Students will also compose and perform in scenes based on that material."

This web site has been created as a "digital learning object" for both learning leaders as well as independent learners. The focus is diversity and religion in the area of North Africa known alternately as the Maghreb. It uses materials developed in the course of participation in a professional development seminar for post-secondary academic leaders during the summer of 2011; the time period of the "Arab Spring" and "Jasmine Revolution" when the citizens of predominantly Islamic countries around the perimeter of the Mediterranean Sea are calling upon their respective leaders for fundamental governmental and social change that is perhaps more democratic in nature than current or previous leadership of those countries. At the same time a resurgence of conservative Islamist leaders want to participate fully in the process of change.

An exploration of colonial and postcolonial clashes between theories of healing and embodiment in the African world and those of western bio-medicine. Examines how Afro-Atlantic religious traditions have challenged western conceptions of illness, healing, and the body, and have offered alternative notions of morality, rationality, kinship, gender and sexuality. Analyzes whether contemporary western bio-medical interventions reinforce colonial or imperial power in the effort to promote global health in Africa and the African diaspora.

Examines cultural developments within European literature from different societies at different time-periods throughout the Middle Ages (500-1500). Considers--from a variety of political, historical, and anthropological perspectives--the growth of institutions (civic, religious, educational, and economic) which shaped the personal experiences of individuals in ways that remain quite distinct from those of modern Western societies. Texts mostly taught in translation. Topics vary and include: Courtly Literature of the High and Late Middle Ages, Medieval Women Writers, Chaucer and the 14th Century, and the Crusades.

Examines cultural developments within European literature from different societies at different time-periods throughout the Middle Ages (500-1500). Considers--from a variety of political, historical, and anthropological perspectives--the growth of institutions (civic, religious, educational, and economic) which shaped the personal experiences of individuals in ways that remain quite distinct from those of modern Western societies. Texts mostly taught in translation. Topics vary and include: Courtly Literature of the High and Late Middle Ages, Medieval Women Writers, Chaucer and the 14th Century, and the Crusades.

Explores the related phenomena termed nationalism: national consciousness and identity, nations, nation-states, and nationalist ideologies. Analyzes nationalism's emergence and endurance as a factor in modern politics and society. Topics include: nationalism and state-building, nationalism and economic modernization, nationalism and democratization, and nationalism and ethno-political conflict. This course provides a broad overview of the theories of and approaches to the study of nationalist thought and practice. It also explores the related phenomena termed nationalism: national consciousness and identity, nations, nation-states, and nationalist ideologies and nationalist movements. The course analyzes nationalism's emergence and endurance as a factor in modern politics and society. Topics include: nationalism and state-building, nationalism and economic modernization, nationalism and democratization, and nationalism and religious conflict.

This course explores the social relevance of neuroscience, considering how emerging areas of brain research at once reflect and reshape social attitudes and agendas. Topics include brain imaging and popular media; neuroscience of empathy, trust, and moral reasoning; new fields of neuroeconomics and neuromarketing; ethical implications of neurotechnologies such as cognitive enhancement pharmaceuticals; neuroscience in the courtroom; and neuroscientific recasting of social problems such as addiction and violence. Guest lectures by neuroscientists, class discussion, and weekly readings in neuroscience, popular media, and science studies.

Introduces the history of Islamic cultures through their most vibrant material signs: the religious architecture that spans fourteen centuries and three continents -- Asia, Africa, and Europe. Studies a number of representative examples from the House of the Prophet to the present in conjunction with their social, political, and intellectual environments. Presents Islamic architecture both as a full-fledged historical tradition and as a dynamic and interactive cultural catalyst that influenced and was influenced by the civilizations with which it came in contact.

Religion is foundational to social life; it organizes and frames all aspects of society and of our lives
as social beings. In 21st century Western societies, it has become a normative assumption that
religion is individualized and privatized, making its institutionalized reality and the structural power
it embodies almost invisible in daily life. Yet, globally, we are also experiencing a “resurgence” of
religion in the public sphere. In this course then, we will explore these realities in the sociological
study of religion by attempting to ask the following questions: what is “religion” and how did this
category come to be? Whether the public-private binaries and the religion-secular binaries are rigid
and/or fluid and whether these binary paradigms miss recognizing and seeing the diverse ways in
which religion lives in social life? How are our understandings of religion framed by historical
contexts and processes of colonialism, racism, patriarchy, immigration, among others, and how do
these produce hegemonic narratives about religion resulting in the centering of certain religions in
our sociological imaginations and marginalizing others? How is religion fundamentally a system of
power? We will attempt to answer these questions by embracing an inclusive perspective in the
study of religion centered on five key themes: (1) understanding what “religion” is; (2)
(re)orienting sociological perspectives on religion as intersectional, gendered and embodied, lived
and transnational; (3) religion as system(s) of power and authority; (4) religious lives and
experiences; (5) religion and the possibility for social change. In this course, then, to paraphrase
James Spickard (2017), I am not asking us to throw out our old ideas about religion; “I merely want
[us] to realize that religion is more complex than [we] ever imagine” (p. 22)
Course Objectives:
1. Develop the intellectual and analytical tools necessary to sociologically understand religion
as a diverse and complex social reality, institution, experience, and system of power.
2. Develop sociological curiosity and reflexivity about the salience of religion in social and
personal lives and the mutuality of both.
3. Strengthen critical thinking and analytical skills by reading and writing critically and
integrating ideas and concepts from the course material (lectures, readings, videos,
discussions, and facilitations).
4. Gain experience in doing preliminary secondary research and exploratory primary research
on a topic in religion and successfully write and orally present on the same.

This assignment is inspired by the learnings that arose from the workshop, “Fostering Play in the Classroom - Pedagogies to Build Creativity, Connection and Light to Oppressive Spaces”. Based on group dialogue, feedback, and the desire to build on pedagogies of play in the workshop, this science fiction short story assignment has been created as an additional layer of liberatory, contemplative learning for students that can be used/tweaked to work in a variety of courses. Powerful conversations arose in the workshop surrounding power/oppression, positionality and how this impacts our ability to engage in play, and the importance of holding both/and (i.e. - joy/sadness, pain/pleasure, restriction/liberation). This assignment attempts to deepen these reflections through creativity, storytelling, and removal of limits for dreaming in a world with obstacles. 

The book proposes the hypothesis that six generic ways of being religious may be found in any large-scale religious tradition such as Christianity or Buddhism or Islam or Hinduism: sacred rite, right action, devotion, shamanic mediation, mystical quest, and reasoned inquiry. These are recurrent ways in which, socially and individually, devout members of these traditions take up and appropriate their stories and symbols in order to draw near to, and come into right relationship with, what the traditions attest to be the ultimate reality.

This course explores the relationship between music and the supernatural, focusing on the social history and context of supernatural beliefs as reflected in key literary and musical works from 1600 to the present. It provides an understanding of the place of ambiguity and the role of interpretation in culture, science and art. Great works of art by Shakespeare, Verdi, Goethe (in translation), Gounod, Henry James and Benjamin Britten are explored, as well as readings from the most recent scholarship on magic and the supernatural.

This Prof-Proof-Planner is designed by Professors Marta Cabral (College of Staten Island) and Niyati Mehta (Queensborough Community College) to help students navigate syllabi, regardless of how dis/organized, un/clear, or fluid/ strict/ they may be. The goal is for students to take the time to digest the essential information as they take note of it on this planner, jot down due dates, characteristics of each assignment (in terms of effort/ time required, group/individual, etc.), how to contact instructors, characteristics of each course, etc. Throughout the planner there are short reminders that each student is encouraged strive to make meaningful connections between each assignment/ course and their personal and professional interests, and there are places to write down these reflections and notes. We welcome feedback, as we would love to keep adapting this tool to our students’ needs!

The concept of globalization fosters the understanding of the interconnectedness of cultures and societies geographically wide apart; America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Subject scans existing debates over globalization in four continents. Explores how globalization impacts everyday life in the First and Third World; how globalization leads to a common cosmopolitan culture; the emergence of a global youth culture; and religious, social, and political movements that challenge globalization. Materials examined include pop music, advertisements, film posters, and political cartoons. Topic for Spring 2003: Popular Culture in Japan. Taught in English.

British literature and culture during Queen Victoria's long reign, 1837-1901. Authors studied may include Charles Dickens, the Brontes, Lewis Carroll, George Eliot, Robert Browning, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, Rudyard Kipling, and Alfred Lord Tennyson. Discussion of many of the era's major developments such as urbanization, steam power, class conflict, Darwin, religious crisis, imperial expansion, information explosion, and bureaucratization. Fiction, nonfiction, and poetry; syllabi vary.

This course examines the problem of mass violence and oppression in the contemporary world, and the concept of human rights as a defense against such abuse. It explores questions of cultural relativism, race, gender and ethnicity. It examines case studies from war crimes tribunals, truth commissions, anti-terrorist policies and other judicial attempts to redress state-sponsored wrongs. It also considers whether the human rights framework effectively promotes the rule of law in modern societies. Students debate moral positions and address ideas of moral relativism.

People rely on religion and various belief systems to bring meaning and understanding to everyday life. This course will show how anthropologists unravel and interpret cultural belief systems to gain insight into the cultural environment. Cross-cultural ethnographic examples will illustrate the various ways in which Anthropologists analyze belief systems as a way to understand a culture. Topics include religion, worldview, symbolism, taboo, myth, ritual, witchcraft, shamanism, religious practitioners, magic, healing, and spirits. Students must be prepared to look at both literate and pre-literate ritual systems. Non-Western belief systems are contrasted with religions of the Western world.

Exploration of the changes and continuities in the lives of South Asian women. Using gender as a lens, examine how politics of race, class, caste, and religion have affected women in South Asian countries, primarily in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Current debates within South Asian women's history illustrate the issues and problems that arise in re-writing the past from a gendered perspective. Primary documents, secondary readings, films, newspaper articles, and the Internet.

"This semester, we will read writing about travel and place from Columbus's Diario through the present. Travel writing has some special features that will shape both the content and the work for this subject: reflecting the point of view, narrative choices, and style of individuals, it also responds to the pressures of a real world only marginally under their control. Whether the traveler is a curious tourist, the leader of a national expedition, or a starving, half-naked survivor, the encounter with place shapes what travel writing can be. Accordingly, we will pay attention not only to narrative texts but to maps, objects, archives, and facts of various kinds. Our materials are organized around three regions: North America, Africa and the Atlantic world, the Arctic and Antarctic. The historical scope of these readings will allow us to know something not only about the experiences and writing strategies of individual travelers, but about the progressive integration of these regions into global economic, political, and knowledge systems. Whether we are looking at the production of an Inuit film for global audiences, or the mapping of a route across the North American continent by water, these materials do more than simply record or narrate experiences and territories: they also participate in shaping the world and what it means to us. Authors will include Olaudah Equiano, Caryl Philips, Claude L?vi-Strauss, Joseph Conrad, Jamaica Kincaid, William Least Heat Moon, Louise Erdrich, ?lvar N