Course Overview
This course will focus on close readings of academic and critical texts related to several interconnected topics in Iranian Studies. Most of the readings are in Persian, although there will also be some texts in English. Each seminar we will concentrate on reading critically—what is a given author’s argument? How does s/he develop the argument over the course of the text? How do the author’s methodologies, assumptions, and contexts shape the argument and to what effect? How do these arguments relate to larger debates on the topic? To whom, if anyone, does the author respond?
The first eight seminars cover readings on topics selected by the instructor. For the final sessions, students will select readings and present them to the class. As with the other seminar sessions, everyone in the class will be expected to read the students’ selected texts beforehand.