Modern Iran

Catalog description

“Iran” acquired its current appellation through a process of national and international negotiation. To understand its modern history requires a retrospective analysis of international processes, which have guided Iran’s political and cultural transformations in the contemporary period. Iran’s engagement with its neighbors and with other transnational communities, from the nineteenth to the 21st century, has remained a source of conflict and cultural flux, especially along its volatile boundaries. Its past has become embedded in the broad histories of the Middle East and thus cannot be studied in isolation. This course will traverse the history of Iran from the monarchic era to the Islamic Republic. It will offer readings of primary accounts, historical newspapers, archival documents, and unpublished manuscript sources to show the breadth of the Persianate world and the significance of Iran’s involvement in the contemporary Middle East, from social issues to arms build-up.