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 student’s 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 Shi’a

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; Sa’adi, 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