HomeThe Modern Middle East: History 382
The Modern Middle East: History 382
Professor Lisa Pollard Spring Semester 2005
Office: 228 Morton TR 11:00-12:15
Office Hours: W 2-4
email: pollardl@uncw.edu
Phone: 962-3309
http://www.uncw.edu/people/pollardl
This course surveys the history of the Middle East in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its geographical focus is the eastern Arab world (al-mashraq), plus Turkey, Iran and Israel. Most of the focus will be on the 20th century. We will, however, examine the political and economic reforms that took place in the Ottoman Empire, Egypt, Iran and the Fertile Crescent during the 19th century. 19th-century reform will structure our discussions of the course’s major theme, which is the rise and formation of the nation-state in the modern Middle East.
Other themes covered in History 382 will be imperialism and the role of the Western powers in the formation of the nation-state in the modern Middle East, including the Middle East as an arena for the Cold War, and the West’s supplier of oil. We will look at nationalism—both as a state-imposed and a grass-roots ideology. Finally, we will make substantial inquiries into Islam, its role relative to the State and its various forms of reaction to the State.
In light of current events, we will pay particular attention this semester to the history of Iraq, the history of the conflict between Palestine and Israel, and the rise of political Islam in the region.
Required Texts: (Available for purchase at the campus bookstore and at Seahawk Books in University Landing):
William L. Cleveland, A Modern History of the Middle East (Third Edition).
Akram Khater, Sources in the History of the Middle East.
David Shipler, Arab and Jew: Wounded Spirits in the Promised Land (Revised Edition)
Charles Tripp, A History of Iraq.
Joel Beinin and Joe Stork, Political Islam.
The reading load for this course averages 75 pages per week.
Course Requirements:
Participation: 20% of final grade. Participation means a number of things. It means attendance of all lectures, and completion of course reading on time. It means active participation in all class discussions. If you are not present for discussions, you cannot participate, nor can you participate if you remain silent. So, on days designated as “discussion,” on the syllabus, you must come to class prepared to participate in a conversation about the readings.
This spring, participation also requires an additional activity of all students. You will be divided into eight groups. Each member of each group will be responsible for posting a question and a brief response to the class’ Pipeline once over the course of the semester. The question and response will be based on the primary-source documents found in Akram Khater’s Sources in the History of the Middle East. Those sources will, of course, correspond to the week’s lectures. The goal is to get you to incorporate primary sources into the lecture material. If it is not your “week” to log on to Pipeline, you do not have to; you are welcome, however, to participate in all of the on-line discussions. (The professor, of course, will read each posting carefully!) I will keep an active log of who is showing up on-line.
Portfolio: 10% of final grade. You will compile a portfolio of your work during the semester and present it to me on Thursday, April 14, 2005. The portfolio will include all your writings for the semester, including your final exam (I will place your final exam in the portfolio after I have read it, but you will not have to turn in the final on the last day of class). It will also include a five-page essay that you write based on a questionnaire that you will complete twice, once at the beginning of class and once at the end. (You will, in turn, administer that questionnaire to a friend or family member.) That essay will ask you to discuss your experience with the questionnaire, and to discuss your written work from the semester. The focus of this portfolio is the history of you as a historian of the Middle East. (The portfolio will include your two mid terms, your two digs, and your five-page essay).
Map Quiz: 5% of final grade. Given during the third week of class.
Digs: 10% of final grade. At some point during the semester, you will no doubt find yourself at odds with the contents or thesis of a lecture. On two such occasions, you are asked to write a three- page “dig.” (You can think of this as further “digging” into the subject, or “digging” at the professor, whichever you prefer). The sources for your dig must be the primary sources found in Khater, Sources in the History of the Middle East. Digs that do not engage primary sources will not be given credit.
Two take-home mid-term exams: 15% each of final grade. Each exam will consist of a five-page essay. One essay will take up David Shipler’s Arab and Jew, and the other Charles Tripp’s A History of Iraq. You will be asked to discuss each book, in light of lectures, classroom discussions, and the primary sources from Khater.
One seven-to-ten-page final essay: 25% of final grade. The essay will be based on the reading and research you do with your group for the end-of-course summit on Islamic movements.
Week One:
Thursday, January 6: Introduction to the Course.
Reading:
Introductions to Shipler and Tripp. In Shipler, read the forewords to both editions.
Those with no background in Middle Eastern history are encouraged to read Cleveland, 1-39.
Week Two:
Tuesday, January 11: The Islamic world on the eve of modernity: Ottomans and Safavids. Questionnaire first fifteen minutes of class.
Thursday, January 13: Reform in the Islamic world.
Reading:
Cleveland, 40-81.
Tripp, 1-19.
Khater, I.1.1-4 and I.2.1-2.
Group 1 on Pipeline to question and discuss Khater I.1.1-4 and I.2.
http://www.ottomansouvenir.com/img/Maps/Ottoman_Empire_Map_16-17th_Centuries.JPG
Week Three:
Tuesday, January 18: (Map quiz first ten minutes of class.) Reform in Iran and Egypt.
Thursday, January 20: Zionism, settlements in Palestine, Palestinian responses.
Reading:
Cleveland, 81-116.
Shipler, Part II, chapters 5,6,7,8, and 12.
Khater, I.2.3-7, I.3.4 and II.4.1-2.
Group 2 on Pipeline to question and discuss Khater 1.2.3-7, I.3.4. and II.4.1-2.
Week Four:
Tuesday, January 25: Indigenous Responses to Change: Turkish and Arab nationalisms, Islamic reform and nationalism, constitutionalism.
Thursday, January 27: Discussion: What was the response of traditional societies to Western economic, political and cultural influences?
Come to class prepared to discuss all the readings through this week.
Reading:
Cleveland, 117-129.
Tripp, 20-29.
Khater, I.1.6 and I.3.1-3 and 5-7.
Group 3 on Pipeline to question and discuss Khater, I.1.6 and I.3.1-3 and 5-7.
Week Five:
Tuesday, February 1: World War I and Its Consequences.
Thursday, February 3: States Emerge: Turkey and Iran.
Reading:
Cleveland, 146-189.
Khater, II.4.4-6 and II.5.1-5.
Group 4 on Pipeline to question and discuss Khater, II.4.4-6 and II.5.1-5.
Week Six:
Tuesday, February 8: States emerge: Iran, continued, and Egypt’s Struggle for Independence.
Thursday, February 10: Discussion: What is the nature of Middle Eastern statehood in the post-WWI era?
Come to class prepared to discuss the readings from weeks five and six.
Reading:
Cleveland, section of chapter 11 on Egypt.
Khater, II.4.7, 10, 12.
Tripp, 30-77.
Group 5 on Pipeline to question and discuss Khater, II.4.7, 10, 12.
Week Seven:
Tuesday, February 15: Palestine under the British Mandate and the Birth of Israel.
Thursday, February 17: The French Mandates: Syria and Lebanon.
Reading:
Cleveland, 212-232.
Shipler, Part II.
Khater, II.4.9, 11 and II.5.6, 11-13.
Group 6 on Pipeline to question and discuss Khater, II.4.9, 11 and II.5.6, 11-13.
Week Eight:
Tuesday, February 22: The British Mandates: Iraq and Jordan.
Thursday, February 24: Discussion: What is the nature of this second “type” of Middle Eastern state post-WWII? Your first take-home exam is due at the beginning of class Thursday, February 24, 2005.
Reading:
Cleveland, sections of chapter 11 on Jordan and Iraq.
Tripp, 77-107.
No Pipeline group this week.
Week Nine: No Class. Spring Break.
Week Ten:
Tuesday, March 8: The post-WWII era. Independence and Radicalism: The Contrasting Cases of Iran and Iraq.
Thursday, March 10: Nasser’s Egypt and the Radicalization of the Arab Polity
Reading:
Cleveland, 265-267; pages on Iran from chapter 14; 293-335.
Tripp, 108-148.
Khater, IV.8.1,2.
Group 7 on Pipeline to question and discuss Khater, IV.8.1-2.
Week Eleven:
Tuesday, March 15: The Arab Defeat and Its Consequences; Israel and the Palestinians into the 1970s.
Thursday, March 17: The Turbulent 70s: Egypt and Lebanon
Reading:
Cleveland, 336-384.
Khater, III.6.2 and III.7.1,2,4.6. (Please note: this week’s readings include Iraq and Syria in anticipation of next week’s holiday).
Group 8 on Pipeline to question and discuss Khater III.6.2 and III.7.1.2.4.6.
Week Twelve:
Tuesday, March 22: The Seventies: Iraq and Syria go Radical
Thursday, March 24: No class. Easter holiday.
Reading:
Cleveland, 385-409.
Tripp, 170-174; 194-210; 243-247.
No Pipeline group this week.
Week Thirteen:
Tuesday, March 29: The Seventies: The Iranian Revolution
Thursday, March 31: Discussion: How to understand the contrasts between secular and Islamic radicalisms? How fare the Palestinians and Israelis? How fares the Middle East?
Reading:
Cleveland, 410-435.
Khater, III.6.1, III.7.3,5.
Your second take-home essay is due at the beginning of class on Thursday, March 31.
No Pipeline group this week.
Week Fourteen:
Tuesday, April 5: The Saudis’ Seventies
Thursday, April 7: Palestine and Israel: War, Uprising, Peace.
Reading:
Cleveland, 436-482.
Khater, III.6.3,8.
http://www.easy-access.com/Ariel/Oslo/LargeMap.html
Palestine Center - Oslo II Map Outlining Areas A, B, and C
http://www.mideastweb.org/lastmaps.htm
No Pipeline group this week.
Please begin reading in your appropriate groups for the Summit on Islamic Movements.
Week Fifteen: Your portfolios are due on Thursday, April 14 at the beginning of class.
Tuesday April 12 and Thursday, April 14:The Gulf War, the West and Radical Islam.
Reading:
Cleveland, 483-end of conclusion
Tripp, 259-274.
Beinin and Stork, “On the Modernity, Historical Specificity and International Context of Political Islam,” 3-28.
Khater, IV.8.5-7.
Week Sixteen:
Tuesday April 19 and Thursday, April, 21: Summit on Islamic Movements
