MIDEAST 201 - Madness, Medicine, and Magic in the Middle East
Fall 2023, Section 001
Instruction Mode: Section 001 is  In Person (see other Sections below)
Subject: Middle East Studies (MIDEAST)
Department: LSA Middle East Studies
See additional student enrollment and course instructor information to guide you in your decision making.

Details

Credits:
4
Requirements & Distribution:
HU
Repeatability:
May not be repeated for credit.
Primary Instructor:
Start/End Date:
Full Term 8/28/23 - 12/6/23 (see other Sections below)
NOTE: Drop/Add deadlines are dependent on the class meeting dates and will differ for full term versus partial term offerings.
For information on drop/add deadlines, see the Office of the Registrar and search Registration Deadlines.

Description

All humans experience physical and psychological suffering and seek help from a medical professional. This class examines how such experiences have played out in what is known today as the Middle East, beginning with ancient Babylonia, going through medieval Islamic societies, and ending with contemporary Middle Eastern ones.

The course provides a broad overview of the various medical traditions that have succeeded, interacted, intermingled, conflicted, or replaced one another in this area. We will investigate how in different periods of time mental and physical illness was theorized, diagnosed, and treated. For example, we will learn about cuneiform procedures that offer pharmaceutical recipes and ritual practices for expelling ghosts or “the hand of God(dess)” diseases; about medieval empirical treaties that sought physical symptoms for mental and emotional states; how politics have shaped public health responses to pandemics; and about contemporary practices of jinn appeasement and exorcism, among many other topics.

For many of us, medicine is a science that provides an objective understanding of the working of the human body, universally valid irrespective of history and culture. This class has as one of its goals to push this view of medicine to its limits, to question its coherence, and show its cracks.

Intended Audience:

Undergraduates with an interest in historical medical practices or theories

Class Format:

Two 90-minute lectures in addition to 1-hour discussion section weekly

Schedule

MIDEAST 201 - Madness, Medicine, and Magic in the Middle East
Schedule Listing
001 (LEC)
 In Person
26964
Closed
0
 
-
TuTh 1:00PM - 2:30PM
8/28/23 - 12/6/23
002 (DIS)
 In Person
26965
Closed
0
 
-
F 12:00PM - 1:00PM
8/28/23 - 12/6/23
003 (DIS)
 In Person
26985
Closed
0
 
-
F 1:00PM - 2:00PM
8/28/23 - 12/6/23
004 (DIS)
 In Person
27332
Closed
0
 
-
F 2:00PM - 3:00PM
8/28/23 - 12/6/23
005 (DIS)
 In Person
28038
Closed
0
 
-
F 3:00PM - 4:00PM
8/28/23 - 12/6/23
006 (DIS)
 In Person
30336
Closed
0
 
-
F 12:00PM - 1:00PM
8/28/23 - 12/6/23
007 (DIS)
 In Person
34523
Closed
0
 
-
F 1:00PM - 2:00PM
8/28/23 - 12/6/23
008 (DIS)
 In Person
35868
Closed
0
 
-
F 11:00AM - 12:00PM
8/28/23 - 12/6/23
009 (DIS)
 In Person
37607
Closed
0
 
-
F 11:00AM - 12:00PM
8/28/23 - 12/6/23

Textbooks/Other Materials

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Click the button below to view and buy textbooks for MIDEAST 201.001

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Syllabi

Syllabi are available to current LSA students. IMPORTANT: These syllabi are provided to give students a general idea about the courses, as offered by LSA departments and programs in prior academic terms. The syllabi do not necessarily reflect the assignments, sequence of course materials, and/or course expectations that the faculty and departments/programs have for these same courses in the current and/or future terms.

Click the button below to view historical syllabi for MIDEAST 201 (UM login required)

View Historical Syllabi

CourseProfile (Atlas)

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CourseProfile (Atlas)