Courses
310 courses since 2014
What we cover at CILAS matters less than what a student discovers.
42 courses
- 01
Reclaiming the Ancient: Poetry, Memory, and Living Traditions
This lab explores ancient poetic and philosophical traditions as living expressions of human thought, rather than distant or static artifacts. We will engage texts from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and South and Southeast Asia, approaching them through relational, context-based…
View course - 02
معمل الترجمة
لماذا نترجم؟ وهل الترجمة مجرد ممارسة لغوية، أم عملية فكرية مليئة بالانحيازات والاختيارات عند كل منعطف؟ كيف تؤثر تصوراتنا عن اللغتين العربية والإنجليزية على الترجمة وجدواها؟ ما الذي يحتاجه المترجم من مهارات؟ هل نحتاج إلى مترجمين في عصر الذكاء الاصطناعي؟ نحاول في مختبر الترجمة…
View course - 03
Creative Research Writing: Between Fact, Fiction, and Personal Truths
My arrival at creative research writing is informed by two observations: 1. There is an assumed distinction between academic research and writing practices and personal, creative ones. 2. Academic research and writing practices are considerably impaired when divorced from pe…
View course - 04
Writing lab: Seeing the mystery of space; walking the music of time
Story, narrative, and poetry are all, to paraphrase poet-essayist Robert Bringhurst, ‘forms of knowing’. It isn’t so much that we know them but that they know. Knowing in the sense of ‘knowing freed from the agenda of possession and control – knowing in the sense of stepping i…
View course - 05
Writing the Self
We write a letter to a lover in a Word document and then close the file without saving it. We open our mobile phones on public transport to write about a scene we saw and want to keep. Perhaps there is something hidden deep within us (or outside of us) that we don't want anyon…
View course - 06
Writing lab
How can we best harness word magic to inspire, inform, educate, and entertain? Or does language ‘language’ us? Do different languages (Arabic and English, for example) shape our thoughts differently? In this writing lab, we will apply aspects of language (sounds, words, rhy…
View course - 07
مختبر الترجمة
لماذا نترجم؟ وهل الترجمة هي مجرد ممارسة لغوية، أم عملية فكرية مليئة بالانحيازات والاختيارات عند كل منعطف؟ كيف تؤثر تصوراتنا عن اللغتين العربية والإنجليزية على الترجمة وجدواها؟ ما الذي يحتاجه المترجم من مهارات؟ هل نحتاج إلى مترجمين في عصر الذكاء الاصطناعي؟ نحاول في مختبر الترج…
View course - 08
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - Reading and Writing the Photographic Image
The photographic image plays a pivotal role in our modern era, an age in which image and media culture have become more dominant than ever. Given this powerful influence, it has become necessary to regard the image as a form of discourse that goes hand in hand with other modes…
View course - 09
اللعب بالأرشيف: معمل بحثي إبداعي
ماذا يخبئ الأرشيف؟ ماذا يختزن في بطنه وماذا يخفي ويمحو ويشوه؟ ما هي الانحيازات التي تحدد ما يقال وما لا يقال؛ ما يؤرشف وما يطويه النسيان؟ وهل يحوي، إلى جانب الحقائق التاريخية، عناصر ملهمة للخيال؟ كيف يمكن أن يصبح الأرشيف مصدرا للعمل الإبداعي؟ وكيف يمكن للقراءة الإبداعية أن تجا…
View course - 10
Philosophical Construct and Tools: Philosophy through language
سنسعى في هذا المقرَّر الدراسي إلى الاشتغال على عدة محاور: يتعلق المحور الأول بسؤال "ما المعرفة ؟"، وما هي مصادرها؟ وكيف نستطيع الحكم على مدى جودة الأدلة التي تمكننا من الحكم على اعتقاداتنا فنعرف أنها صادقة أم لا. كما سنتعرض إلى "الإبستمولوجيا "، أي نظرية المعرفة (والتسويغ)"، و…
View course - 11
Pedagogy Lab: Philosophy of the Teacher. Power of the Teacher & the Teacher-student Relationship
In his Metaphysics, Aristotle writes, “it is owing to their wonder that men both now begin and at first began to philosophize” (1984, pp. Met: Book I (A), § 2, 982b12-982b13), and in this course, philosophy of the teacher will lead us down to the difficult path of asking some…
View course - 12
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - Reading and Writing the Photographic Image
The photographic image plays a pivotal role in our modern era, an age in which image and media culture have become more dominant than ever. Given this powerful influence, it has become necessary to regard the image as a form of discourse that goes hand in hand with other modes…
View course - 13
معمل (الجندر): ما فعله بنا الجندر
ماذا حدث لنا وللعالم في لحظة معرفة جنسنا؟ سقطت علينا الاف الأدوار والتوقعات المصاغة جندريا من قبل المجتمع والمعدة للفصل والتمييز بين الرجال والنساء، ولان تلك الأدوار محكمة بشدة فان لها صداها في كل مكان الشارع، المدرسة، الجامعة، العلاقات الاسرية ، علاقات العمل، الازمات المجتمعي…
View course - 14
Visual philosophy Lab
Let’s turn the introspective power of philosophy into art! Visual philosophy is an experimental concept of crossover between philosophy reflection and artistic production. This class invites you to join a collective talk about basic philosophy notions. We will study the found…
View course - 15
Writing lab: Cairo Poetics (The City as a Poem)
"Welcome to the Poetry Lab! This course delves into the intersection of poetry and urban studies, examining the ways in which poets have employed the city as a wellspring of inspiration and as a locus of artistic expression. Over the duration of the semester, we will explore t…
View course - 16
Translation Lab
What journey does a text make from one language to another? What happens in a translator’s mind when translating? How can the translator get the reader to the intended destination, while also helping him enjoy the trip? Why do translators either glorify or express contempt for…
View course - 17
Space lab: Un-building: Urbanization and the Geographies of Extraction
This lab explores how urbanization transforms the earth by (re)centering the “hinterland” question in the study of urbanization and cities. Together we will seek to develop a processual and metabolic understanding of urbanization in which we connect the dynamics of city-buildi…
View course - 18
FEMINIST PEDAGOGY LAB
Here we explore how education manifesting in an institution, a curriculum, or a teacher weaves into a broader gendered social and cultural practice. Through a feminist lens, we look back at our schooling and tertiary education to record memories in retrospective diaries. We wi…
View course - 19
Compost Lab: Materials of the everyday
Grandfather Payote told me once that we were all rocks and water set into motion by lightning strike. The Oak told me something very similar, we were water first then bone gave it structure and the lightning gave it movement. – Rune Soup, Episode Talking Animist Herbalism Seán…
View course - 20
On Stupidity: The Trouble with Systematic Thinking
Flaubert said “Stupidity lies in wanting to draw a conclusion.” By this he meant any attempt to reach a conclusion stops the act of thinking when there remains something to be thought. Qualifying something as systematic also points to providing a framework that can explain pro…
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