The Emergence of the Modern Middle East and North Africa

Catalog description

This course provides a brief introduction to the emergence of the modern Middle East and North Africa from 1699 to the end of WWI. Its geographic scope comprises the central provinces and territories of the former Ottoman and Safavid empires: Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Egypt, Levant, and North Africa. The syllabus emphasizes four analytical themes: first, the historical evolution of ""Middle Eastern"" polities from dynastic and religious empires in the 18th century to modern ""nation-states"" in the 20th; second, the impact of industrial capitalism and European imperial expansion on local societies and their modes of production; third, local conceptions of modernity and measures of modernization in responses to European colonial expansion; Islamic and secular reform movements; nationalism and revolution; fourth, the ideological and socio-cultural dimensions of these large-scale transformations, specifically the rise of mass ideologies of liberation and development and the emergence of new issues in the areas of gender, identity, and popular culture. Major historical events include two world wars, creation of “new orders,” (constitutional republics, Islamic regimes or authoritarian states), projects and challenges of postcolonial state-building. Prerequisite: None. Fulfillment: Humanities Advanced course; 200 level focus course for the Social Science International Relations track.