ANTH 319W

History and Democracy in the Modern Middle East

As an introduction to the social, political, religious and intellectual history of the Middle East from the 1700s to the present day, this course pays particular attention to the following topics: the nature of the Middle Eastern social and political institutions; tensions between reform and purifying impulses in Islamic religious currents; the Ottoman period, western imperialism; paths of modernization; the Arab-Israeli conflict; the historical context for the emergence of political Islam; and the Arab Spring of 2011. Course meets multicultural graduation requirement.

Units: 3.0