ABSTRACT
This chapter presents two teaching projects inspired by the largely neglected premodern humanistic treasures of the Arabs. The first deals with the scarcely taught – in American universities – subject of medieval Arab humor. The second ventures into the fascinating world of Arab-Muslim gastronomical taste, eating/feasting and intimacy. American universities, especially those that have departments of Middle Eastern studies and comparative literature, should offer more courses on Arab humor, pleasantry, and fun-making. A course on Arab humor would preferably be taught to advanced and/or graduate students who are highly interested in learning the most characteristic elements and idiosyncratic topics of the Arab/Muslim world. In addition to humor and pleasantry, offering more courses on the rich premodern Arabic writing on food and sexual intimacy can equally shed a much-needed light on the humanistic treasures of the Arabs. Students and instructors alike would be surprised by the punctiliousness Arabs/Muslims lavished on their cooking, eating, and sexual lives.
