Teacher: Friederike Schmidt, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Class Level: Beginners (basic knowledge of Modern Standard Arabic required)
Class Schedule 2023-24: Fridays from 10:00-11:00 UK Time (you can check time-zone comparisons on sites such as this one)
Class Length: 2-term class (Michaelmas Term 2023-Hilary Term 2024) (Oxford dates of term are available on the University website)
Class Description: This beginner‘s course of Classical Judeo-Arabic is designed for students who already have a sound basic command of Arabic (approximately 3-4 semesters of university training) and wish to gain a glimpse into the world of Arabic literature and documents written by medieval Jews. The class will comprise a short theoretical introduction to the phenomenon of Judeo-Arabic and important authors as well as a hands-on reading training. Regarding the material read in class, it will be possible to adapt the content (to some extent) to the needs of the individual students. Prior to the start of the course, students are asked to familiarise themselves with the Hebrew script and to write a short note to the teacher sketching their prior knowledge as well as their field(s) of interest and expectations regarding the class.
Teacher: Friederike Schmidt, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Class Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Class Schedule 2023-24: Fridays from 12:00-13:00 UK Time (you can check time-zone comparisons on sites such as this one)
Class Length: 2-term class (Michaelmas Term 2023-Hilary Term 2024) (Oxford dates of term are available on the University website)
Class Description: This course is designed for students who already have attended at least two trimesters or one semester of Classical Judeo-Arabic and would like to widen their horizons further concerning the multifaceted world of medieval Judaism in the Arabic-speaking world as attested in literary works and documents (mainly from the Cairo Genizah). Suggestions of texts and/or authors are always welcome and can be integrated in the syllabus to a certain extent.
Reference Materials:
-Blau, Joshua. A dictionary of mediaeval Judaeo-Arabic texts. Jerusalem, 2006.
-Blau, Joshua. Judaeo-Arabic Literature. Selected Texts. [In Hebrew: Ha-Sifrut ha-ʿaravit ha-yehūdit – peraḳim nivḥarim]. Jerusalem, 1980.
-Blau, Joshua. Studies in Middle Arabic and its Judaeo-Arabic variety. Jerusalem, 1988.
-Blau, Joshua. The emergence and linguistic background of Judaeo-Arabic. Jerusalem, 1999. 3rd edition.
-Khan, Geoffrey. ‘Judaeo-Arabic’, in: Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics. Managing Editors Online Edition: Lutz Edzard, Rudolf de Jong. First online publication: 2011.
-Wagner, Esther-Miriam. ‘Writing Judaeo-Arabic’, in: Creating Standards. Interactions with Arabic script in 12 manuscript cultures. Edited by Dmitry Bondarev, Alessandro Gori, and Lameen Souag. Berlin/Boston 2019. pp. 73–92. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110639063-003.