History 148 Grossmont College Spring 2009
Spring 2009
History 148
Emergence of the Modern Middle East
Grossmont College
Mon-Wed 2pm - 3:15
Bldg 51, Room 582
David Reeves
Course Webpage http://history148.budgetpress.net
Email dreeves@umail.ucsb.edu
Office hours
The purpose of this course is simple and straightforward: to introduce you to the peoples, societies, and cultures of the Middle East from the time of the Prophet Muhammad (ca. 600 C.E.) to the present. Organization is primarily chronological and thematic. The aim of this course is to develop each students comprehensive understanding of crucial historical events by applying context and causation rather than simply regurgitating facts and dates. This course may be of interest to history majors as well as any student seeking a broad historical perspective of vitally important region.
Click here for the complete syllabus
Required Books -
Hanan Ashrawi, This Side of Peace
Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red
The History of al-Tabari Vol. 7: The Foundation of the Community
Interactive Historical Timelines
Class Schedule
26 Jan Introduction
Textbook p. 1-8
28 Jan Byzantine Empire and Sassanid Iran
Textbook p. 9-21, 149-154
2 Feb The Birth of Islam
Textbook p. 25-36
4 Feb The Quranic Vision
Required Reading al-Baqarah The Cow
9 Feb The Caliphate and Islamic Conquests
Required Reading Pact of Umar
Textbook p. 37-47
11 Feb Ali, Hussein, and the Shia
16 Feb - Holiday
18 Feb The Umayyad Caliphate
Textbook p. 49-61
23 Feb The Abbasid Caliphate
Required Reading - The Nizαmu'l Mulk, On the Courtiers and Familars of Kings
Textbook p. 63-73
25 Feb Abbasid Theology and Law
Required Reading ibn Sina, On Medicine
Textbook p. 75-94
2 Mar Abbasid Culture
Textbook 96-118
Required Reading - al-Tanϋkhξ, Ruminations and Reminiscence; Saadi, The Gulistan Ch. I-VII
4 Mar Mid-term
Required Reading - The History of al-Tabari
9 Mar The Crusades and the Mongol Conquest
Textbook p. 121-144, 155-158
Required Reading - The Franks Conquer Jerusalem; Usmah Ibn Munqidh,
Autobiography; Ibn al-Athir, On the Tatars
11 Mar The Rise of the Ottomans and Safavids
16 Mar The Ottoman Empire
18 Mar The Safavid Empire
23 Mar Imperial Politics and Local Responses
25 Mar Napoleon, Muhammad Ali, and the Tanzimat Reforms
Required Reading Tanzimat Documents
Textbook p. 259-308
30 Mar The Young Turks and Islamic Modernism
Textbook p. 311-347
1 Apr Qajar Iran and the Revolution of 1905
Textbook p. 349-367
6&8 Apr Spring Break
13 Apr Mid-term
Required Reading Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red
15 Apr World War I and the Creation of the Modern Middle East
Required Reading - Herzl on the Jewish State; Balfour Declaration; Hussein-McMahon Correspondence; Anglo-French Joint Statement of Aims; Sykes Picot Agreement
Textbook p. 369-387
20 Apr Mandate Palestine and the Creation of Israel
Required Reading British White Paper of 1922; British White Paper of 1939; UN General Assembly Resolution 181; Israeli Declaration of Independence
Textbook p. 447-459
22 Apr Strongmen and Modernizers Kemal Ataturk and Reza Shah
Textbook p. 393-417
27 Apr Independence and Decolonization
Textbook p. 419-445, 462-474
29 Apr The Cold War in the Middle East
Required Reading The Eisenhower Doctrine on the Middle East; TASS, Statement on the Eisenhower Doctrine
Textbook p. 499-511
4 May The Islamic Revolution in Iran
Required Reading Preamble to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran
6 May Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and Lebanese Civil War
11 May Modern Turkey
13 May The Palestinian Israeli Peace Process
Required Reading - UN Security Council Resolution 242; UN Security Council Resolution 338; Beirut Declaration 2002
18 May Rise of Saddam Hussein, Iran-Iraq War, Gulf War
20 May 9/11 to today
25 May Memorial Day
? Final
Required Reading Hanan Ashwari, This Side of Peace