Course Description
Evolution of religious, nationalist, and cultural identities in the region of the Modern Middle East and their contribution to political revolutions throughout the twentieth century.
Athena Title
REL NAT REV M EAST
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in HIST 3560
Prerequisite
Permission of Honors
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
This course is designed to acquaint students with the major political movements and ideologies which have influenced the modern Middle East. The principal objective of the course is to teach students to think critically for themselves about the relationships between the past and the present, to learn to ask questions of the past that enable them to understand the present and mold the future, and to become attuned to both the limitations and possibilities of change. The course seeks to acquaint students with the ways in which past societies and peoples have defined the relationships between community and individual needs and goals, and between ethical norms and decision-making. In general students will be expected to: 1. read a wide range of primary and secondary sources critically. 2. polish skills in critical thinking, including the ability to recognize the difference between opinion and evidence, and the ability to evaluate--and support or refute--arguments effectively. 3. write stylistically appropriate and mature papers and essays using processes that include discovering ideas and evidence, organizing that material, and revising, editing, and polishing the finished papers.
Topical Outline
The Fall of the Ottomans Empire and Rise of Nation-States in the Middle East Nationalism, Religion and the Armenian Genocide The Creation of Imagined National Communities Race, Religion, and Nationalism in Modern Zionism The Religious Revival and Waning of Secular Nationalism Communalism and National Identity in Modern Lebanon and Iraq Pan-Arabism and the Nasserist Moment in the Middle East
Syllabus