Islamic History in the Age of Imperialism

Catalog description

This course covers a pivotal era in the 19th and 20th centuries when imperialism—both formal and informal—extended across parts of the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. Two major events in world history frame the course: the 1869 opening of the Suez Canal, which ushered in a new phase of globalization and geopolitics; and the first World War, which created a new political order across much of the Islamic world. Key themes include the impact of the “revolution in steam and print”; local responses to imperialism; nationality and citizenship; Islamic politics; colonial legacies, and trans-regional mobility of people, ideas, and political movements.