Middle East History

Survey of the political, social, economic, and intellectual currents in the Middle East from 610 C.E. until World War I. Approved for LAS Humanities and Global Awareness requirements. Approved for Compass Curriculum requirements: Inclusiveness (Global/Diversity); Explore-Arts, Humanities, and Cultures; Writing Intensive.

3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)

Survey of the political, social, economic, and intellectual currents in the Middle East from World War II until the present. Approved for LAS Humanities area and Global Awareness requirements. Approved for Compass Curriculum requirement: Inclusiveness (Global/Diversity); Explore-Arts, Humanities, and Cultures.

3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)

Emergence, development and decline of Mesopotamian civilizations from the early 3rd to the late 1st Millennium B.C.E. While students will concentrate on Sumerian and Akkadian history, they will gain a broad understanding of the development of Amorite, Kassite, Hurrian, Assyrian, Chaldean and Babylonian culture as well.

3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)

Examines how the history of contacts produced and affected contemporary understanding of Islam and the West. Considers cultural, trade, and diplomatic contact in different historical periods, and the way that contact is negotiated through gender, race, class, and religion. Approved for Global Awareness Requirement. Approved for Compass Curriculum requirement: Writing Intensive. Meets with WEST 3680.

3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)

First course in a two-semester sequence on the Ottoman Empire. Discusses the foundation of the Ottoman state in its regional context, administration, social and cultural life, and gender relations. Themes include the empire’s multi-ethnic and cultural nature, cultural sophistication, and its developing relations with Western Europe.

3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)

Examines the connection between the harem and war zone by examining Ottoman, Egyptian, American, and British 19th and 20th century travel accounts, blogs, memoirs, and novels. Considers the ways in which these two zones differ or overlap over time and place, exploring the historical realities of colonialism, empire, nationalism, and modernity. Central themes include the imaginary, feminism, identity, dislocation, war, and urban encounters. Approved for LAS Global Awareness requirement. Approved for Compass Curriculum requirement: Writing Intensive. Meets with WEST 4050.

3 Credits (Minimum) 3 Credits (Maximum)