COURSE OFFERINGS- Courses on Central Asia/Eurasia in Harvard's Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus, 2007-08

A distribution of: Central-Asia-Harvard-List. The Announcement List for
Central Eurasian Studies at Harvard University

COURSE OFFERINGS- Courses on Central Asia/Eurasia, 2007-08

The following three courses will be offered this year in Harvard's
Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus. These courses are open to
those who are eligible to enroll in courses at Harvard:

FALL TERM Course

Culture Wars in Eurasia
Anthropology 1930
John Schoeberlein

Fall term, Wednesdays, 2:00 - 4:00
Room: CGIS South S-354

The course explores the contestation of culture in Eurasia --
especially Central Asia, but also the broader region from Crimea to
Mongolia. From the beginning of the twentieth century, claims about
what is the right kind of culture have been asserted for political and
social ends in pursuit of modernity, state legitimacy, mobilization of
resistance and opposition, artistic and spiritual authenticity, social
harmony or creation of a compliant populace, among many other goals.
The course explores the anthropology of identity construction, of
social mobilization, of political authority, and of cultural hybridity
and integrity in the richly culturally diverse and rapidly changing
world of Eurasia, where cultural contestation revolves around concepts
like pan-Turkism, Eurasianism, cultural revolution, modernization,
nation-building, Islamic revivalism - from the beginning of the
twentieth century to post-Communism.

SPRING TERM Courses

The Meanings of Islam in Central Asia
Islamic Civilizations 160
John Schoeberlein

Spring term, Wednesdays, 2:00 - 4:00
Room: CGIS South S-354

The course examines the changing role of Islam in Central Asia through
history from a multidisciplinary perspective. It considers the
diversity and multi-dimensionality of Islam as it influences social,
cultural, political and religious life. Themes include: Islam and
social order; Islam under Russian and Communist rule; Sufism,
modernist Islam, "fundamentalism" and other forms of belief and
practice; and the dynamic new role of Islam in the region following
independence in 1991.

Contemporary Central Asian Societies
Sociology 305
Laura Adams

Spring term

This course provides an introduction to Central Asia, focusing on
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan,
though some discussion will be devoted to nearby Muslim societies such
as Afghanistan and Xinjiang in Western China. The goal of the course
is to provide students with a broad base of knowledge that will allow
them to interpret current events in the region through a sociological
lens and to set their own agendas for further exploration of the
region. In the first week, we will cover the political and cultural
history of the region and in the second week we will survey the
history of the Soviet period as it applies to contemporary Central
Asia. Throughout the rest of the semester, we will explore
contemporary topics through empirical readings on religion, politics,
civil society, globalization, gender, demography, migration, and
culture. The readings in this course will also draw on the work of
prominent sociologists, anthropologists and political scientists (such
as Rogers Brubaker, Juan Linz, Frank Lechner and John Boli, and
Katherine Verdery) to help us theorize about Central Asian societies.
Course requirements include class participation, a mid-term, a brief
presentation, and a research paper. Some background in Soviet studies
or the Muslim world would be helpful for this course.

Contacts:

John Schoeberlein
Davis Center, 1730 Cambridge Street
CGIS South, Room S-320
tel.: 617-495-4338
email: schoeber@fas.harvard.edu
Office hours: Tuesdays, 1:00-3:00 & by appt.

Laura Adams
email: ladams@fas.harvard.edu
Office hours: TBD

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