Jews & Arabs: From the Time of Muhammad to the Present

Catalog description

What is the history of Arab-Jewish relations beyond the Israel-Palestine conflict and the kinds of violence and animosity commonly depicted in contemporary media coverage of the Middle East? Turning our focus to Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, this course seeks to answer that question by examining often overlooked aspects of Arab-Jewish relations, including the rich diversity of Jewish cultures native to the MENA region, and the radical transformation of these cultures after their mass migration to the State of Israel after its creation in 1948. We shall study the history of Jews and Arabs who lived as neighbors, in cooperation as well as in conflict, from the rise of Islam in the seventh century to the present day. In doing so, we shall explore the experiences of individuals who lived through periods of major upheavals (including colonialism, imperialism, nationalism and decolonization) in order to understand the impact of these different processes on inter-communal relations across time and space. Our sources will include works of scholarship, primary source texts such as religious queries and government documents, journalistic materials, memoirs, and film. Relevant extra credit events on and off campus will be offered to students as opportunities to expand their learning beyond the classroom. This course fulfills Dietrich College's "Intercultural and Global Inquiry" general education requirement. Course Website: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/history/