Expository writing based on analysis of selected texts or literatures in translation or writings interpreting the material culture of the ancient Near or modern Middle East. Specific topics vary with instructor. R1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R1B satisfies the second half.

Visiting the ruins, the traces of a beloved's abode, is a conventional elegiac and aesthetic note in pre-Islamic poetry. The city elegy, which appeared in the Arabic corpus in the Abbasid period, incorporates and transforms this nostalgia into a full lament. In this course, we will examine the nostalgia and romance of the ruin in pre-Islamic poetics, reading poetry and literature as we track its transformation into a ruined city in the post-Islamic period. Students will closely read, analyze, and compare examples of elegiac Arabic poetry and critique and evaluate scholarly arguments in a series of writing assignments, culminating in a final research paper. We will read Arabic poetry in English translation and works of literary criticism and theory in English.

Requisites

• Previously passed an R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Previously passed an articulated R_A course with a letter grade of C- or better. Score a 4 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Literature and Composition. Score a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Language and Composition. Score of 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examination in English.

Credit Restrictions

Students will receive no credit for NE STUD R1B after completing NE STUD 1B.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills