For complete course information, syllabi, and registration information, please visit the Hartford Seminary web site.

 

Courses for Fall 2010

Mental Health: An Islamic Perspective (AM-653)
Online, beginning the week of September 13

This course will familiarize students with the basic concepts of mental illness to facilitate their communication with multidisciplinary teams including both health and mental health professionals. We will focus on the cultural factors particular to the Muslim community. Students will obtain skills such as how to approach individuals in a mental health treatment context and when to make referrals to mental health specialists. Students will be required to write a term paper. Selected papers will be considered for the publication in the Journal of Muslim Mental Health. Hamada Hamid, Adjunct Professor of Arts of Ministry and Fellow, Institute for Social Policy and Understanding

Information Literacy for Islamic Studies (AM-677) NEW
Tuesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 11:50 a.m., beginning September 14

To conduct basic research in Islamic Studies requires knowledge of resources from manuscripts to websites, Arabic transliteration systems, Arabic keyboarding for data searches, the nature of historiography and its relation to disciplines within Islamic Studies, and the role of Orientalism, inter alia. Students will learn how to think critically concerning information produced about Islam from both within and without the religion. Differing editions of the Qur’an in translation as well as hadith, fatwas, and other classical texts will also be addressed, in addition to differing calendar systems, styles of calligraphy, the use of maps and atlases, and so on. Pre-requisite: one year of Arabic or permission of the instructor. Steven Blackburn, Faculty Associate in Semitic Scriptures and Librarian

Islamic History II*(HI-625)
Thursdays, from 7 p.m. to 9:20 p.m., beginning September 16

This course continues the exploration of the history of Islamic societies and civilization, from the beginnings of the major pre-modern Islamic empires (Ottoman Turkey, Safavid Iran, Moghol India, Morocco) and Islam’s expansion into Africa and South-Asia until the colonization of most of the Islamic world by European powers, the struggles for independence and the creation of contemporary Muslim nation-states. Special attention will be given to socio-economic realities, ideological evolutions and significant cultural and artistic achievements. Students will read selections of important primary sources available in English translation, such as Dârâ Shikûh’s The Mingling of the Two Oceans, Kâtib Tchelebi’s Balance of Truth, Tavernier’s Collections of Travels through Turkey into Persia, Jabartî’s Chronicle, Khayr al-Dîn al-Tûnisî’s Sureth Path, and al-Afghânî’s Refutation of the Materialists. Timur Yuskaev, Assistant Professor of Contemporary Islam

Introduction to Arabic: Phonology and Script (LG-580)
Mondays and Wednesdays, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:40 p.m., beginning September 13

Students will master the writing system of standard Arabic, as well as the sounds of the language.  A basic vocabulary of over 100 words will be learned, and at the end of the term students will be able to engage in short, simple conversations.  Both Levantine and Egyptian pronunciation will be covered.  Assumes no prior knowledge of Arabic. Steven Blackburn, Faculty Associate in Semitic Scriptures and Librarian

Intermediate Arabic, Part I (LG-650)
Mondays and Wednesdays, from 5:45 p.m. to 6:55 p.m., beginning September 13

This course is designed for participants to consolidate their knowledge of Arabic. Prerequisite: LG-581 or permission of the instructor.
Steven Blackburn, Faculty Associate in Semitic Scriptures and Librarian

Introduction to Islamic Theology* (TH-553)
Wednesdays, from 7 p.m. to 9:20 p.m., beginning September 15

This course explores the content and structure of Islamic belief, as elaborated by Muslim classical thinkers (7th-15th centuries), in relation to a selection of representative texts. The Introduction questions the nature and modalities of theology in Islam. History studies the origins and growth of the science of Kalâm in its interaction with the other major religious disciplines of Sunnism -- exegesis, Prophetic tradition, jurisprudence, sects, Sufism and philosophy (falsafa). The Creed is then analyzed more theoretically in its major components: the lordship and divinity of God, the mediation of the Messenger, the servitude and ethics of the believers. Society offers a last avenue for enquiry, in so far as it was shaped by particular theological doctrines. The Way/Law (sharî’a), power, love, innovation, and alterity -- religious or other -- are among the topics envisaged. No knowledge of Arabic is required for this course. Yahya Michot, Professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations