Course Description
Images and symbolism used by Europeans and Americans to define the Islamic Middle East. The history of the Middle East through representation--stereotypes, myths, fairy tales, novels, films, and news coverage--particularly the ramifications of these images on Western foreign policy towards the Islamic Middle East.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
A research paper will be required of graduate students.
Athena Title
HIS OF ORIENTALISM
Semester Course Offered
Offered every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
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. 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 European Discovery of Islam in the Middle Ages Islam and the Renaissance Changing Views of the Middle East in the Age of Enlightenment Romanticism and the Golden Age of Orientalism Knowledge and Imperialism Orientalism and Imperial Administration Orientalism and "Scientific" Racism Orientalists and Arabophiles Zionism and Orientalism The Middle East through American Eyes The Current Debate on Orientalism as a Discipline
Syllabus