Professor Amin Saikal, BA PhD ANU
The Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies (The Middle East and Central Asia) -- CAIS -- formerly known as the Centre for Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies was opened in February 1994. It is the first of its kind in Australia, and is the only Centre of learning that focuses on the predominantly Muslim regions of the Middle East and Central Asia together as a major point of attention in the post-Cold War world. The Centre's areas of coverage are: the Arab world, including North Africa, and Iran and Turkey, as well as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan and Pakistan.
CAIS is a teaching and research Centre, with organic links to The Faculties and professional association with the Institute of Advanced Studies.
The primary objectives of the CAIS are fourfold:
The Centre integrates the study of Arab, Middle Eastern and Central Asian culture, civilisation, politics, history and economics, and places these within the broader framework of the changing global order. It examines the role of religion -- especially Islam -- and fosters the study of the most relevant languages, particularly Arabic and Persian, and looks at gender politics. It also focuses on issues pertinent to Australia's interests in, and the development of its commercial, scientific and industrial ties with these dynamic regions.
In addition to its undergraduate courses, the Centre offers Graduate Diploma by coursework, MA by coursework and sub-thesis, and supervision for MPhil and PhD research on a wide range of topics relating to its areas of coverage. The Centre runs a seminar program with visiting speakers and also hosts an annual lecture by a prominent specialist on Islamic civilisation, as well as hosting frequent international conferences.
The undergraduate courses offered by the Centre may be included in Arts majors, but are also of relevance to students of Asian Studies, or students in other disciplines who are interested in gaining a knowledge of the Middle East or Central Asia.
The Persian courses can be undertaken as single courses, or as an Arts major within the Bachelor of Arts course or combined BA degree options.
The Arabic courses can be undertaken as single courses, or as a language major within the Bachelor of Asian Studies, Faculty of Asian Studies or as an "out-of-faculty" major in the single Bachelor of Arts degree. It is not available to Arts students undertaking a combined degree option.
The Centre currently offers courses in Middle Eastern and Central Asian politics, and two of the major languages of the regions of its coverage Persian and Arabic -- although the introduction of the Turkish language is expected in either second semester 2001 or first semester 2002. While a number of these courses are offered through the Centre, some of them are offered in conjunction with Political Science (School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts), and the Faculty of Asian Studies.
The Centre is responsible for the delivery of three Political Science courses: Politics in Central and West Asia POLS2070; Politics in the Middle East POLS2031, Politics in Russia POLS2069 and the free choice course New States of Eurasia: Emerging Issues in Politics and Security MEAS2001.
Offered 2002 & subsequent years
Two lectures and one tutorial per week for eleven weeks
Lecturer: Dr Kirill Nourzhanov
Prerequisite: First year courses to the value of 12 units from Arts or Asian Studies, or with permission of the Director of the Centre.
Syllabus: The Soviet Union has been replaced by Russia and fourteen newly independent states trying to maintain sovereignty and internal cohesion. The new states, under the influence of Russia, increasingly China, other regional powers and in a number of cases, international competition for their extensive energy resources, and armed conflicts, have widely experienced economic decline, terrorism, religious fundamentalism, civil violence and independence movements of minority groups. The West today perceives post-Soviet Eurasia, with a population of approximately 300 million, as a zone of chronic instability posing threats to regional and global security.
The course will seek to analyse topical developments and highlight long-term trends in security dilemmas of the former Soviet Union. Emphasis will be on the issues of ethno-nationalism, territorial disputes, and conflict management. The course will discuss security developments at multiple levels of analysis, ranging from state policies to sub-state actors and transnational issues, but special attention will be given to regional security complexes involving Russia, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.
1. To acquaint students with the societal, political, military and geographical bonds and rivalries that shape Eurasian countries today.
2. To reach a better understanding of how people and governments are coping with the legacies of the Soviet era and building new relationships with their neighbours and other countries.
3. To examine security issues of Eurasia on its own terms, not as a sub-set of the dominant system of international relations.
4. To assess critically the existing interpretations of trends in Eurasian security based on the notions of `power vacuum' and the `New Great game'.
Proposed assessment: Essay (3,000 words) 50%; final Examination (or second optional essay) 40% and tutorial assessment (based on attendance, reading, performance) 10%
Convener: Dr Nijmeh Hajjar, Licence ès Lettres, LicInfDoc, CAPES Beirut; LicJourCom Brussels; PhD Syd
Arabic is the mother language of over 250 million people in the Middle easr (West Asia and North Africa), and one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Arabic is also the language of the Qur'an with special importance to all Muslims in the world numbering over one billion people.
Arabic is the language of an ancient civilisation, which contributed greatly to human knowledge. Its influence is strongly felt on such languages as Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian and Malay, among others. And many European languages still preserve hundreds of words from Arabic origin in various fields of knowledge. Arabic is also the living medium of a contemporary dynamic literature and culture. Its rich and magnificent poetry, classical and modern, is especially captivating.
Bachelor of Arts students may undertake this major as an out-of-Faculty major. As Arabic is not an Arts major it is not available to BA students undertaking a combined program unless you are enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Asian Studies combined program. In this instance, the Arabic major becomes the Asian Studies language major.
An Asian Studies major in Arabic requires the completion of a minimum of 48 units (normally 8 courses) comprising 12 units at first year level (2 courses) and 36 units at later year level (6 courses). Students must include ARAB2007 Media Arabic B and ARAB2006 Contemporary Arabic Literature B.
The sequence of courses for the Arabic major is dependent on the student's reading and language ability.
See also the Arabic Program entry under the Faculty of Asian Studies for further details.
Syllabus: This course assumes no previous knowledge of the language. It covers the Arabic script and sound system and basic grammar rules. The teaching uses an audio-visual and audio-lingual approach, and is designed to develop the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing in an integrated way by the use of dialogues in realistic situations, class interaction and oral and written drills.
Prerequisite: Introductory Arabic A SWAA1002 or ARAB1002 or permission of Coordinator
Syllabus: This course extends Introductory Arabic A. Students will develop their conversational skills, study samples of modern Arabic literature and the press, and undertake translation from and into Arabic. As in the previous course, grammar is explained in its functional aspect using basic structures of Arabic in realistic situations.
Four hours of lectures in the morning and workshops and activities in the afternoon five days per week. The course will be held in Beirut, Lebabon in January and February for a period of six weeks. Emphasis is on acquisition of conversational skills in Arabic. Themes covered include: education, and literature, culture and society, politics and economics and trade and tourism.
Lecturer: Dr Hajjar (and possible contribution from a local lecturer)
Prerequisite: Introductory Arabic B SWAA1003 or ARAB1003 or equivalent
Syllabus: (a) Reading and listening to, selections from modern Arabic literature and materials from the Arabic press, printed and broadcast. (b) Conversational practice
Proposed assessment: 2,000 word essay in Arabic on a workshop topic.
Prerequisite: Introductory Arabic B SWAA1003 or ARAB1003 or equivalent
Syllabus: This course is devoted to the study of the language and style of classical Arabic literature. It covers more advanced grammar, and students will study samples of classical Arabic works including secular and religious texts.
Prerequisite: Introductory Arabic B SWAA1003 or ARAB1003 or equivalent
Syllabus: This course develops the materials of Classical Arabic A.
Prerequisite: Introductory Arabic B SWAA1003 or ARAB1003 or equivalent
Syllabus: This course is devoted to reading texts from modern Arab writers, both fiction and non-fiction, with continuing development of conversational skills.
Prerequisite: Introductory Arabic B SWAA1003 or ARAB1003 or equivalent
Syllabus: This course is devoted to reading texts from modern Arab writers, both fiction and non-fiction, with continuing development of conversational skills.
Four class hours, and one hour in the language laboratory a week
Prerequisite: Introductory Arabic B SWAA1003 or ARAB1003 or equivalent
Syllabus: This course is devoted to the language and style of the Arabic press and radio. The material covers ordinary news items, printed or broadcast. The course provides students who have mastered basic grammar, with an introduction to the language of the Arabic media and develops their basic listening and interpreting skills.
Four class hours, and one hour in the language laboratory a week
Prerequisite: Introductory Arabic B SWAA1003 or ARAB1003 or equivalent
Syllabus: This course develops further the materials of Media Arabic A.
Available only to students taking the Bachelor of Asian Studies (Arabic) degree
Prerequisites: Permission of Head of Centre
(i) An initial course in colloquial Arabic (Egyptian or Levantine);
(ii) Continuing Arabic language study, and an intensive program in Arabic during the last ten weeks;
(iii) Attendance at and reports on a series of seminars at academic institutions in Amman, Beirut, or Cairo; and
(iv) The preparation of an annotated translation (from Arabic into English) with an introduction in Arabic.
Incompatibility: SWAA3500 Year in Middle East (Arabic)
*N.B. If you who wish to take this course you must enrol in both ARAB3500A (First Semester) and ARAB3500B (Second Semester). This course continues over a full-year and is not divisible into semesters. You will not receive a final grade until the completion of Part B at the end of the year. If you drop Part A in First Semester, you must also drop Part B.
Available only to students who have completed the Year in Middle East (Arabic) SWAA3500 or Year in the Arab World ARAB3500
Syllabus: This course involves further supervised work on the annotated translation begun during the year in the Arab World. The text will have been selected in consultation with the Centre, and the annotated translation should demonstrate that the student has gained mastery over the language used in discourse in his/her chosen area of study, and the ability to position a given text in the relevant scholarly literature.
Convener: Dr Seyed Mohammad Torabi, MA PhD Tehran
The Arts major in Persian requires a minimum of 42 units (normally 7 courses) consisting of 12 units at first year level (2 courses) plus 30 units at later year level (5 courses).
The sequence of courses for the Persian major is dependent on the student's reading and language ability.
Iranian History and Culture MEAS2000 plus language courses dependent on language proficiency and additional courses to achieve the requirement for 42 units.
With the permission of the Convener, a student with appropriate language competence may enter the major at Intermediate Persian or Advanced Persian level.
This is a new major and new later-year courses will be developed in 2001 and offered in 2002.
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Intermediate Persian A PERS2003 |
Iranian History and Culture MEAS2000 Intermediate Persian A PERS2003 |
Four hours of lectures per week (may include language laboratory sessions).
Four hours of lectures per week (may include language laboratory sessions).
Prerequisite: Introductory Persian A (or equivalent prior knowledge, with permission of the lecturer)
Two lectures and one tutorial per week for eleven weeks
Prerequisite: First year courses to the value of 12 cp from Arts or Asian Studies, or with permission of the Director of the Centre.
Syllabus: This course broadly examines the cultural-social values and processes that have formed Iranian civilisation. The course comprises three sections: ancient, medieval and modern Iran. The student will be introduced to language, literature, art and society in Iran, ranging from ancient Persia to contemporary Iran. The course will seek to analyse a range of topics, which includes the history of Islam in Iran, and its implications for Iranian art and literature, and the expansion of local crafts in Medieval Iran. It will also provide an analysis of the socio-political aspects that came to create modern Iran, emphasising the move towards the constitutional revolution, the consequences of the fifty-year Pahlavi dynasty, and finally the Islamic revolution and its impact on Iranian society and culture.
Proposed Assessment: Essay (3000 words) 45%, final Examination (two hours) 40%, Tutorial assessment 15%
Four hours of lectures per week (may include language laboratory sessions).
Prerequisite: Introductory Persian B (or equivalent prior knowledge, with permission of the lecturer)
Four hours of lectures per week (may include language laboratory sessions).
Prerequisite: Intermediate Persian B (or equivalent prior knowledge, with permission of the lecturer)
Four hours of lectures per week (may include language laboratory sessions).
Prerequisite: Intermediate Persian B (or equivalent prior knowledge, with permission of the lecturer)
Syllabus: This course builds on the Introductory and Intermediate levels of Persian language and is aimed at developing the student's knowledge and improving their ability in reading, writing and speaking Persian. The grammar in this course will cover more about prefixes and suffixes as well as adverbs and prepositions. Selected texts will also be studied.
Proposed assessment: Final examination 50%, attendance/class participation 25%, homework 25%
Four hours of lectures per week (may include language laboratory sessions).
Prerequisite: Advanced Persian A (or equivalent prior knowledge, with permission of the lecturer)
Syllabus: This course will further develop the student's knowledge and improve Persian reading, writing and speaking skills. The course will deal with Persian literature, both prose and verse, including the three areas of Persian verse: the epic, the lyric and the dramatic, and consider poetic structure such as rhythm, rhyme and rank. Students will read selected texts from Persian prose and poetry.
Proposed assessment: Final examination 50%, attendance/class participation 25%, homework 25%.