Courses
Aesthetics of Transition: Modernism and Tradition in Iranian Architecture, Film and Literature (COMPLIT 275)
Architecture, literature, and film are parallel and interconnected sites of transition, where local tradition invariably coexists and changes with global formal and thematic innovations. This course explores how Iranian writers, architects, and filmmakers of the early 20th century reflected socio-political change incumbent in the age of transition from tradition to modernity and modernism. We go beyond the traditional binaries of Orient and Occident, global or local and seek to explore cultural shifts as much to understand their global influences as their roots in inherited forms and narratives. Students read fiction, poetry, essays, and journalism, and study films and visual archives, while analyzing architecture as a built space, as it is represented in literature and depicted in cinema.
Mohadeseh Salari Sardari
SPRING 2026
Autumn
Winter
Spring
Course List
For a representative, rather than comprehensive, list of courses that count towards the minor, see the Related Courses tab of the Bulletin. Other courses may also fulfill the requirements; students should consult their Iranian Studies minor adviser concerning which courses might fulfill minor requirements.
Courses Not Currently Offered
ARTHIST
CLASSICS
- CLASSICS 361 : Persia and the Greeks
COLLEGE
- COLLEGE 124 : Modernity and Politics in Middle Eastern Literatures
COMPLIT
- COMPLIT 151 : Systemic Beauty: Poetry, Film, and the Divine
- COMPLIT 179 : Rumi: Rhythms of Creation (COMPLIT 249)
- COMPLIT 249 : Rumi: Rhythms of Creation (COMPLIT 179)
- COMPLIT 254 : The Middle East through Graphic Novel
GERMAN
GLOBAL
- GLOBAL 101 : Critical Issues in Global Affairs
HISTORY
- HISTORY 201A : The Global Drug Wars (HISTORY 301A)
- HISTORY 301A : The Global Drug Wars (HISTORY 201A)
INTNLREL
- INTNLREL 198 : Senior Thesis
PERSLANG
- PERSLANG 3 : First-Year Modern Persian, Third Quarter