This course examines the humanities from the standpoint of global interconnections. Using historical, literary, linguistic, and philosophical approaches to cultural criticism, reception and production, we study the major traditions of critical theory, including semiology, deconstruction, feminism, psychoanalysis, phenomenology, the Annals School and the Frankfurt School. Concerned with how the world gives itself to appearances, these epistemological methods allow us to tease out the critical charge embedded in the notion of culture itself.

The proseminar is designed to introduce first-year PhD students to cutting-edge research across the humanities and social sciences through presentations from a rotating selection of visiting scholars. In addition to expanding conceptual knowledge, these seminars provide a forum for students to be exposed to key issues in the research process. Students also build critical analysis abilities, synthesize across disciplines, and hone clear communication skills through focused activities.

This course prepares doctoral students to design and implement interdisciplinary research in Humanities and Social Sciences. They may do research for degree requirements (thesis) or as independent research projects. The course, therefore, discusses research paradigms, including ontological, epistemological, and axiological issues related to the choice of methodology. As such, the course examines the foundations of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods research, and the ethical issues related to research. These discussions will help student to link broader theoretical and conceptual perspectives and alternative research approaches through which to generate knowledge, construct ideas and present various arguments.

This course focuses on the student's research proposal and an initial exploration of the literature review. Under the supervision of their supervisor, Students are expected to finalize the writing of an extended thesis proposal of 8000 words (excluding the references) that will include the following sections: The background of the research, the rationale and motivation for their proposed research, the proposed theoretical framework and an initial literature review section.

This course provides a platform for reevaluating political culture by focusing on its informal, unofficial, and independent aspects, diverging from the conventional perspective that predominantly associates political culture with state agencies and institutions. In the Middle East, a significant aspect of the state-society divide is reflected in how individuals perceive politics and how they form and refine their perceptions of it. Through a thorough exploration of 15 distinct yet interconnected subtopics, this course seeks to emphasize the coexistence, contradictions, and interactions between formal and informal dynamics within the Middle East.

This course examines the ways in which interdisciplinarity is practiced in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Students will be exposed to research projects undertaken across contemporary fields of knowledge – including but not limited to the digital humanities, intercultural communication, translation and interpreting, cultural heritage, women and gender studies, sciences and technology studies – and yet inheriting from traditional “disciplines” that have founded the Humanities and Social Sciences (philosophy, literature, linguistics, law, sociology, political science, etc.). Class discussion will be tailored towards mapping the different types of knowledge integration and their tension with knowledge specialization (mono-, anti-, multi-, inter-, trans-disciplinarity). Exposure and discussion, the two pillars of this course, will equip students to critically reflect on the potentials and limitations of interdisciplinarity in the endeavor to bridge the gap between Society and the Humanities and Social Sciences.