ACADEMIC COURSES - FALL 2008

The Indian Ocean in World History (History 392.001)

Instructor: Sebouh Aslanian

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the rapidly growing field of Indian Ocean studies. Our approach will be to study the Indian Ocean as one of the oldest maritime highways connecting diverse regions, cultures and civilizations. The time period for the course will roughly coincide with the emergence of Islam in the seventh century C.E. to the intrusion of various European powers into the region and the subsequent emergence of the global economy and colonialism in the nineteenth century. In studying the Indian Ocean world within the framework of global history, particular attention will be paid to the role of port cities and their networks and especially to a variety of sea-borne long distance merchant communities (such as the Maghribi Jews of the Medieval period, Julfan Armenians, Sephardic Jews, and a variety of Indian merchant communities in the Early Modern period) who facilitated the circulation of commodities, cultures, and ideas and in doing so helped to give shape to the Indian Ocean as a "unified" aquatic space in world history. We will rely on a variety of texts including primary sources such as travel literature, scholarly studies of the economic history of merchant communities, as well as Amitav Gosh's extraordinary novel of medieval life in the Indian Ocean, entitled In an Antique Land. The format of the course will be lecture and discussion.

Armenia: Culture and Ethnicity (AAPTIS 274/ARMENIAN 274)

Instructor: Prof. Kevork B. Bardakjian

This course will explore various aspects of the Christian Armenian identity, from the earliest times to the 1990s, against a historical and political background, with a greater emphasis on the more modern times. It will highlight the formation of the Armenian self-image; its principle features (political, religious, cultural); and its historical evolution in a multi-religious and multi-national region that has undergone territorial and cultural transformations and has experienced many conflicts, at times deadly, resulting from the clash of national-ethnic identities and aspirations, governed and driven by oppression, distrust, religious and cultural intolerance, and aggressive political designs to name but a few. There will be class discussions. Students will be required to write one short term paper (5-7 pages long) and a final paper (8-10 pages long) reflecting research on a selected topic.

Intermediate Western Armenian, I (AAPTIS 271/ARMENIAN 271)

Instructor: Prof. Kevork B. Bardakjian

The course is a continuation of ARMENIAN 171/172. Reading, conversation, and composition. A balanced approach giving equal emphasis to the development of language skills and the study of Armenian culture is employed.

Conflict and Diplomacy in the Caucasus (History 480.001/Polsci 489.003)

Instructor: Gerard J. Libaridian

This course will examine militarized conflicts (Nagorno Karabagh, South Ossetia and Abkhazia) and latent ones (such as Ajara and Javakheti) in the South Caucasus as well as diplomatic efforts at conflict resolution in the last decade. The rise of conflicts and nationalism will be studied in view of factors such as ethnicity, religion, class, historical processes, and of state-building in independent Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in the context of post-Soviet international relations.

Nationalism of Small Nations (History 698.002)

Instructor: Gerard J. Libaridian

This graduate seminar will focus on exploring the theoretical and practical distinctions between nationalism in general and the nationalism of small nations. The seminar will cover the classics of nationalism studies and literature that challenges it, developing new insights in the understanding of the phenomenon in the case of small nations.

The seminar will consist of discussion sessions, student presentations, and a major paper that may cover a specific dimension or case elucidating the problem.