Courses

By tracing the history of Middle Eastern societies from the 16th to the early 21st century, this course focuses on the transition from world empires centered in this region, to colonialism and then to modern, independent nation-states. This transition was neither smooth nor unique to this region, and so the course engages, in a comparative framework, with how these societies confronted and responded to industrialization, colonialism and nationalism. The course will examine closely the religious, socio-cultural and ideological dimensions of these large-scale transformations. The course will help students also recognize the underbelly of modernization and of US involvement in the region since the second half of the 20th century.