¶ … Middle East comprises a diverse group of regions, countries, peoples, customs, and cultures. On the one hand, it is daunting to offer a semester-long course that treats all Middle Eastern issues with clarity and fairness. The risk of oversimplification, however, is outweighed by the risk of ignorance. This course will explore the Middle East with as much depth and breadth as possible, stimulating student thought on political, social, religious, historical, ethnographic, and economic issues related to the region. Included in the course rubric will be current events ranging from gender issues to terrorism. In between the heavier topics, lighter lessons on local customs, culture, music, and food will reveal the ordinariness of daily life in the part of the world we call the Middle East.
Islam will be covered from a multidisciplinary perspective, allowing for nuanced and rich class discussions about the unique interface between politics, religion, and social norms. Drawing from primary and secondary sources as well as core textbooks, the course offers an in-depth and challenging overview of this complex region. As a result, students will develop their creative and critical thinking skills that can be applied to other geographic areas.
The following textbooks will serve as general course readers:
1. Abrahamian, Ervand
2008 A History of Modern Iran. New York: Cambridge University Press
2. Esposito, John
2005 Islam: The Straight Path. New York: Oxford University Press
3. Hourani, Albert
1992 A History of the Arab Peoples. New York: Warner
Each of these texts offers a broad, unbiased, and multidisciplinary scholarly perspective on certain key subjects. However, these texts do not cover everything. Throughout the course, specific reading assignments will be culled from other sources. Excerpts from those sources will be placed on the Blackboard. Multimedia content will be viewed in class or available on the Blackboard.
I. What/where is the Middle East? What about non-Arab countries like Iran and Turkey? Is the Middle East defined by the presence of Islam? Then what about Israel? Why Morocco and not Afghanistan?
It is important to define the Middle East, because it is not a distinct geographic region. It could easily be limited to the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula, but it is not. Students should be able to qualify what "Middle Eastern" means.
Lecture and Discussion: Defining and mapping the Middle East.
"Crossing the Bridge" a documentary by Fatih Akin
II. History in Nutshell
Across one or two class periods, lectures will address the key historical turning points in Middle Eastern history. This is not a history class, though, so coverage will be broad. Students need a general overview of why the Middle East is the way it is today.
Lecture:
A. Ancient history to Muhammad
B. Muhammad to Ottoman Empire
C. European colonization
D. Rise, fall, and current state of Arab nationalism
Readings:
Hourani, Albert, "A History of the Arab Peoples," Part IV, pp 263-349
Hourani, Albert, "A History of the Arab Peoples." Part V, pp 351-458
Ochsenwald, Sydney Nettleton Fisher. McGraw-Hill, 2010.
IIb. History of Islam: Understanding the Sunni-Shi'a Division
Any course on the Middle East must address the causes and effects of the Sunni-Shia division. Students will understand the basic reasons for the division, as well as understand the geographic and cultural implications thereof.
Lecture: What is the difference between Sunni and Shi'a? Why does it exist and how does the difference correspond with geography and culture?
Readings:
Excerpts from: Esposito, John
2005 Islam: The Straight Path. New York: Oxford University Press
Multimedia: Shuster, Mike. "The Origins of the Shia-Sunni Split." NPR. Radio Broadcast available online: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7332087
III. Regional Differences
One of the risks of teaching a class on a region as diverse as the Middle East is blurring distinctions between the various cultures and countries that make up the area. This series of lectures will help to clarify differences between regions and their countries, as well as between ethnic minorities and majorities within individual countries.
Lecture: The diversity of people and cultures covered. Linguistic diversity. Nationalism.
A. The Magreb (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia Egypt)
Bensmaia, Reda. Experimental Nations.
Danielson, Virginia. Voice of Egypt: Umm Kulthum, Arabic Song, and Egyptian Society in the 20th Century. pp. TBA (PDF)
B. The Levant: Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan
Harris, William. "The Strategic Geography of the Levant." Chapter 1 in The Levant: A Fractured Mosaic. Markus Weiner, 2008.
C. From Mesopotamia and Babylon to Iran and Iraq
Abrahamian, Ervand. A Modern History of Iran, pp. 1-62 and pp. 155-196.
Batatu, Hanna. The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movement in Iraq. Saqi Books, 2004.
Tripp, Charles. A History of Iraq. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
D. Turkey
Esra Ozyurek. "Nostalgia for the Modern: State Secularism and Everyday Politics in Turkey," pp. 1-92 and pp. 151-182 (PDF)
E. The Arabian Peninsula and the Gulf (Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, the Emirates)
Zahlan, Rosemarie Said. The Making of the Modern Gulf States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates.
F. Transnational minorities and liminal peoples: Kurds, Bedouins, and Druze
Abu-Lughod, Lila. "The Romance...
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