[CLME W3753] Iran: A Culture in History

One of the funniest, sweetest and most brilliant people you'll ever meet. Unconventional in every way; you either love him or you hate him, and you love him. He's one of those "changed my life" profs. If you have even a faint interest in the Middle East, or in cultural relativism, or in thought at all, take anything this man offers, while you still can. No one else in the school can casually compare Latin and Arabic versions of a translation from Persian, and correct them both. Only one warning: his courses tend to involve lots of discussion, and lots of him correcting your statements and your assumptions. If you are looking for academic rigor, or you don't like know-it-all professors, he may not be the one for you.

In this class, we read old persian epic texts and poetry, and watched a few modern films. We were encouraged to bring the readings into the class and discuss line-by-line. We read the texts for what they mean now, as literature, and not for historical, anasthetized meanings. Dabashi is suitable for anyone who is keen on thinking clearer in general - he can be convoluted, but he agitates and moves. He finetuned my vision.