This is an archived copy of the 2018-19 guide. To access the most recent version of the guide, please visit http://guide.berkeley.edu.
About the Program
Minor
The Persian minor introduces students to the people, language, cultures, history of the Persian-speaking world. The minor develops a student's command of reading, writing, speaking, and comprehension in the Persian language and may complement the student's intended major study.
Students minoring in Persian can choose one of two options. Option A is open to students with little or no background in the language. Option B is for students who have completed the equivalent of two years of university-level coursework in the language. For specific information regarding the requirements for each option, please see the Minor Requirements tab on this page.
Declaring the Minor
Students may petition to add the Persian minor as soon as they begin their study of Persian. Please submit the Petition to Complete the Minor form to the undergraduate student adviser.
Other Majors and Minors offered by the Department of Near Eastern Studies
The minor program requires five upper-division courses in Persian literature and culture. Students may overlap one course from their major in order to complete the Persian minor requirements.
General Guidelines
All courses taken to fulfill major requirements must be taken for a letter grade and be at least 3 units.
Students pursuing a double major may overlap two courses to meet both major requirements. Students can also overlap one course to fulfill major and minor requirements.
A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 must be maintained in both upper and lower division courses used to fulfill the major requirements. For information regarding residency requirements and unit requirements, please see the College Requirements tab.
With prior consent of the major adviser, students may take courses across various disciplines to fulfill major requirements.
Minor Requirements
Open to students with no background in the language.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017
Introduction to Persian language, covering basics of the language skills in all aspects of reading, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking with emphasis on culture and communicative methods. Elementary Modern Persian: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Prerequisite for Persian 1B, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 5 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
Introduction to Persian language, covering basics of the language skills in all aspects of reading, writing, listening comprehension, and speaking with emphasis on culture and communicative methods. Elementary Modern Persian: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 1A, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 5 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Summer 2017, Summer 2016 10 Week Session, Summer 2015 8 Week Session
This course is equivalent to a full year of elementary Persian. It will train students in the four language skills: speaking, comprehension, reading, and writing. Emphasis will be placed on the functional usage of the language. Intensive Elementary Persian: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for 10 after taking 1A-1B.
Hours & Format
Summer: 8 weeks - 20 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017
Designed for heritage students who possess oral skills (speaking/comprehension, though limited) but need to improve their writing and reading abilities, and expand their knowledge of Persian grammar and syntax. Completion of 11A-11B will prepare the student to take Persian 20A, Intermediate Persian. Reading and Composition for Persian Speaking Students: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Rudimentary knowledge of spoken Persian and consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 5 hours of recitation per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
Designed for heritage students who possess oral skills (speaking/comprehension, though limited) but need to improve their writing and reading abilities, and expand their knowledge of Persian grammar and syntax. Completion of 11A-11B will prepare the student to take Persian 20A, Intermediate Persian. Reading and Composition for Persian-Speaking Students: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Persian 11A or the consent of the instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 5 hours of recitation per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Summer 2017 8 Week Session, Summer 2007 10 Week Session, Summer 2007 8 Week Session
A year or more of advanced level Persian with emphasis on advanced grammar and vocabulary build up. Newspaper clippings, film reviews and cultural awareness through introduction of literature will be covered. Intensive Intermediate Persian: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Persian 1A-1B or Persian 10 or equivalent
Hours & Format
Summer: 8 weeks - 20 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017
The sequence begins in the fall. This course emphasizes reading of simple literary texts, expository writing and composition, formal conversation, grammar, and syntax. It involves intensive vocabulary building in preparation for advanced reading and comprehension of standard literary texts. Intermediate Modern Persian: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Persian 1A-1B or Persian 11A-11B or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 5 hours of recitation per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
The sequence begins in the fall. This course emphasizes reading of simple literary texts, expository writing and composition, formal conversation, grammar, and syntax. It involves intensive vocabulary building in preparation for advanced reading and comprehension of standard literary texts. Intermediate Modern Persian: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Persian 20A or the consent of the instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 5 hours of recitation per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Summer 1997 10 Week Session, Summer 1995 10 Week Session
This course is designed to promote advanced literacy skills in students with different levels of spoken Persian but little or no reading and writing skills in the language. This course will prepare students to take advanced literature courses in the Persian language. Persian Reading and Composition: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Knowledge of spoken Persian and consent of instructor
Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for 50 after taking 106A-106B.
Hours & Format
Summer: 8 weeks - 20 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2018, Fall 2017
Emphasis on intensive vocabulary building, comprehensive grammar review, reading and analysis of short literary texts of various genres from classical and modern periods, and reading newspaper clips and other original sources in Persian media. Advanced Persian: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Persian 20A-20B or equivalent, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2019, Spring 2018
Emphasis on intensive vocabulary building, comprehensive grammar review, reading and analysis of short literary texts of various genres from classical and modern periods, and reading newspaper clips and other original sources in Persian media.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Fall 2011
Readings in both prose and poetry, drawn chiefly from classical and modern Persian literature, designed to increase reading skills and vocabulary and to provide a transition to the study of more challenging literary texts. Readings in Persian Literature: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Persian 100A-100B or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2013, Spring 2012
Readings in both prose and poetry, drawn chiefly from classical and modern Persian literature, designed to increase reading skills and vocabulary and to provide a transition to the study of more challenging literary texts. Readings in Persian Literature: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Persian 101A or the consent of the instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Spring 2019, Fall 2016, Fall 2014
Systematic study of representative selections from all periods of classical Persian literature, with attention to the historical and intellectual context. Readings in Classical Persian Prose: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 101A or 101B or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Spring 2008, Spring 2006, Spring 2003
Systematic study of representative selections from all periods of classical Persian literature, with attention to the historical and intellectual context. Readings in Classical Persian Prose: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 101A or 101B or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Fall 2019, Fall 2017, Spring 2012
Systematic study of poems belonging to all genres of classical Persian poetry, with consideration of questions of prosody, rhetoric, and style. Classical Persian Poetry: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 101A or 101B or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Spring 2020, Spring 2018, Spring 2016
Systematic study of poems belonging to all genres of classical Persian poetry, with consideration of questions of prosody, rhetoric, and style. Classical Persian Poetry: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 101A or 101B or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Fall 2013, Summer 1996 10 Week Session
This course will deal with significant works of Persian prose and poetry from the beginning of the 19th century down to the present. Complete works or extracts from them will be read in the original as a preliminary to their analysis in terms of literary and stylistic development, as well as the changing role of literature in society. The works of the 19th century and the period of the Constitutional Revolution (1905-1911). Contemporary Persian Literature: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 101A or 101B or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Spring 2017, Spring 2013, Spring 2007
This course will deal with significant works of Persian prose and poetry from the beginning of the 19th century down to the present. Complete works or extracts from them will be read in the original as a preliminary to their analysis in terms of literary and stylistic development, as well as the changing role of literature in society. The literature of the rest of the 20th century. Contemporary Persian Literature: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 101A or 101B or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2015, Spring 2010
This course deals with modern/contemporary critical theory, literary history, aesthetics and philosophy, and various theories of literary and cultural criticism in Persian. It concentrates on selected modern analytical, discursive, and expository texts in Persian. The course explores, from an inter- and multi-disciplinary perspective, how different movements, genres, and rhetorical aspects of modern/contemporary literature and culture have been perceived, historically contextualized, and critically positioned within the larger intellectual and scholarly domain in Persian. All texts will be read in the original Persian. Modern Analytical Prose in Persian: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 101A-101B or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
A year or more of advanced level Persian with emphasis on advanced grammar and vocabulary build up. Newspaper clippings, film reviews and cultural awareness through introduction of literature will be covered. Intensive Intermediate Persian: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Persian 1A-1B or Persian 10 or equivalent
Hours & Format
Summer: 8 weeks - 20 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Offered through: Near Eastern Studies
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
Directed study centered upon preparation of an honors thesis. Senior Honors: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Limited to senior honors candidates
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 4 units.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Persian/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Wali Ahmadi, Associate Professor. Persian languages, Persian literature. Research Profile
Asad Ahmed, Associate Professor. Islam (social and intellectual history). Research Profile
Daniel Boyarin, Professor. Talmud, rhetoric, Christianity, genealogy of, invention of Judaism. Research Profile
Ahmad Diab, Assistant Professor. Modern Arabic Literature.
Ronald Hendel, Professor. Textual criticism, Hebrew bible, ancient Near Eastern religion and mythology, Northwest Semitic linguistics. Research Profile
Chana Kronfeld, Professor. Comparative literature, modernism, Hebrew, Yiddish, modern poetry, minor literatures, politics of literary history, feminist stylistics, intertextuality, translation studies. Research Profile
Margaret Larkin, Professor. Near Eastern studies. Research Profile
Rita Lucarelli, Associate Professor. Egyptology. Research Profile
Benjamin Porter, Assistant Professor. Archaeology, Near Eastern archaeology, Middle East, Arid Environments, anthropology, Heritage, tourism, and Museum Studies. Research Profile
Carol A. Redmount, Associate Professor. Egyptology. Research Profile
Carol Redmount, Associate Professor. Near Eastern Studies.
Francesca Rochberg, Professor. History of science, ancient near east, cuneiform studies. Research Profile
Niek Veldhuis, Professor. Digital humanities, intellectual history, Sumerian, cuneiform. Research Profile
Lecturers
Rutie Adler, Lecturer.
Hatem A. Bazian, Lecturer. Near Eastern studies. Research Profile
Chava Boyarin, Lecturer.
Elsa Elmahdy, Lecturer.
Gholam-Reza Ghahramani, Lecturer.
John L. Hayes, Lecturer.
Lissette M. Jimenez, Lecturer.
Nawal M. Laymoun, Lecturer.
Sanjyot Mehendale, Lecturer. Near Eastern studies, Central Asia, Central Asian studies, archaeology and art history. Research Profile
Haitham S. Mohamed, Lecturer.
Laurie Pearce, Lecturer.
Barbara Richter, Lecturer.
Jason Christopher Vivrette, Lecturer.
Visiting Faculty
Manuel Duarte De Oliveira, Visiting Professor.
Emeritus Faculty
Ayla Algar, Lecturer Emeritus. Turkish language and literature, language pedagogy.
Hamid Algar, Professor Emeritus.
Robert B. Alter, Professor Emeritus. Comparative literature, Near Eastern studies, 19th-century European and American novel, modernism, literary aspects of the bible, modern and biblical Hebrew literature. Research Profile
Guitty Azarpay, Professor Emeritus. Art and archaeology of the ancient Near East and Central Asia. Research Profile
Ariel A. Bloch, Professor Emeritus.
Wolfgang J. Heimpel, Professor Emeritus. Near Eastern studies. Research Profile
Anne D. Kilmer, Professor Emeritus.
David Larkin, Lecturer Emeritus. Egyptology.
James T. Monroe, Professor Emeritus.
Jaleh Pirnazar, Lecturer Emeritus. Modern Iranian history. Persian language and literature, Iranian Cinema.
Martin Schwartz, Professor Emeritus. Near Eastern studies. Research Profile
Muhammad Siddiq, Professor Emeritus. Near Eastern studies. Research Profile
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