Modern Middle East Hist 1792 - Present

Catalog description

The last two hundred years have been a period of profound and often troubling change for the people of the Middle East. In this period, modern technology, rapid forms of travel and communication and new ideas and concepts challenged for many the certainties of religion, family, gender, and class. A fundamental feature of these two centuries has been the growing role of Europe and Europeans in the lives of the inhabitants of the Middle East. Imperialism, colonialism and nationalism set in motion a series of events that transformed the region from a place where two great empires, the Ottoman and Qajar held sway, into a dozen independent states like Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Syria, Iraq, Jordan and Iran. This course uses the words, art, literature and thought of local people to understand the way these changes interacted with the intellectual, social and cultural dimensions of Middle Eastern life.