Middle East Studies 244 - Colloquium:Thinking Revolution: Histories of Revolt in the Modern Middle East

Offered as MES 244 and HST 244. How could revolution be theorized from the MENA region? How might older histories and vocabularies of social change connect to recent events in Egypt, Syria, Libya, Yemen, and Tunisia? In the first part of this course, students engage prominent theories of revolution generated within EuroAmerican and MENA contexts. Next, the course considers diverse theories of social change generated within key moments in the history of the modern Middle East, from Ottoman constitution in 1876 to postcolonial revolts in Oman, Yemen, and Algeria. Finally, the course considers the 2011 Arab spring within this longer history of social change in the region. Enrollment limited to 18.