Islamic intellectual history (especially philosophy and theology)

In addition to Islamic Civilizations 145 ("Islamic Philosophy and Theology") as well as a full year of Arabic 240 ("Classical Arabic Philology"), certain specified courses are required of all students who plan to write a dissertation on some aspect of Arabic/Islamic Philosophy (falsafa) or Islamic Theology (kalâm). The aim of these requirements is to give students the ability to locate a particular text more precisely within Islamic intellectual history: both diachronically (i.e., in terms of that text's relationship to previous and later texts within the text's own specific intellectual tradition, be it falsafa or kalâm) and synchronically (i.e., in terms of that text's relationship to contemporaneous texts within other textual traditions, be they Islamic Law, Qur'an Commentary; Sufism, etc.). Students planning to write on some aspect of Arabic/Islamic Philosophy (falsafa) will be required to complete at least two semesters of Arabic 249r ("Arabic Philosophical Texts: Seminar"); one semester of Arabic 250r ("Arabic Theological Texts: Seminar"); one undergraduate-level course on Ancient Philosophy (e.g., Classics 100, Philosophy 101; Philosophy 102, Philosophy 105); and one graduate-level course on Ancient Philosophy (e.g. Classics 268r; Greek 110r, Philosophy 202). By the time they take their General Examinations, students planning to write about some aspect of Arabic/Islamic philosophy will also be required to demonstrate - through examination or through completion of coursework with a grade of "B" or better - at least a third-year level of proficiency in Greek OR Latin OR Hebrew, depending on their specific interests. (NB: Students planning to write on some aspect of the Greco-Arabic translation movement will also be required to demonstrate at least a second-year level of proficiency in Syriac.) Students planning to write on some aspect of Islamic Theology (kalâm) will be required to complete at least two semesters of Arabic 250r ("Arabic Theological Texts: Seminar"); one semester of Arabic 249r ("Arabic Philosophical Texts: Seminar"); four courses in the following areas: Qur'an; Islamic Law; Institutional History; Hadith; Arabic Grammar; Sufism; or Late-Antique or Medieval Christian or Jewish Thought.

from
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~nelc/arab_islam.html