MENA277B

This course approaches the history of the modern Middle East through a Humanist perspective. We consider the Ottoman Empire, the Arab lands, and Iran from 1453 to the present through the interconnected spheres of political, economic, and social history. We will identify major historical periods, figures, geographical features, and movements that have shaped the region and assess the effects of colonialism and imperialism. Lectures, readings, writing, and discussions develop case studies to emphasize the interplay between individual lives, structural diversity and inequality, and historical contingency. Through guided primary source analysis and close readings of a range of texts, students will develop the tools to consider different temporal and spatial scales. Finally, students will consider their own positionality as historical actors in relation to the people of the modern Middle East.