Political Science 268 - Conflict Over Israel-Palestine

This course will examine the conflict over Historic Palestine/The Land of Israel from the late nineteenth century through the present day. It will be framed through a "relational" approach that focuses on the coevolution and interactions of the Zionist and Palestinian national movements. Across the historical periods covered in the course, particular attention will be devoted to explaining variation in the forms of Zionism and Palestinian nationalism that have emerged and how their respective national projects were driven by internal competition among factions with different organizations, objectives, and strategies. The first part of the course will focus on the entangled emergence of the Zionist and Palestinian national movements in the late Ottoman period and under the British Mandate. The second will focus on 1948 through 1967, including the Israeli founding and early state building, the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem, the formation of the PLO, and how these events impacted the broader Middle East. The third part will examine the aftermath of the 1967 war through the Oslo Peace Process in the 1990s, and the final part of the course will look at the "post-Oslo" period through the present day. Students will read a wide variety of primary and secondary sources, with attention devoted to patterns of narrative construction and revision, shifts in historiographic trends, and critical engagement with prominent lines of argumentation related to Israeli and Palestinian politics.

Recommended Prior Coursework: Any Political Science course related to international or Middle Eastern politics.

Limited to 25 students. Spring semester. Visiting Assistant Professor Shils.

How to handle overenrollment: Preference to POSC majors and by instructor permission.

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: An emphasis on close, critical reading of social scientific and historical writing, intensive discussions and debates in class, small group projects, and written work. Serious engagement with controversial topics expected.