Middle Eastern Studies 497M - ST- Middle Eastern Metropolis

Some of the world's largest and longest inhabited cities are to be found in the Middle East. How did these cities originate? What types of social arrangements and ideas did they support? How did they evolve over time? And how were they, and the people who inhabited them, impacted by specific forces such as imperialism, colonialism, tourism, consumerism, war, oil, and political protest? This course uses cities as a lens to explore the history of the Middle East, and the history of how the Middle East has been studied, from the 7th century to the present day. We will draw on interdisciplinary research ranging from art history, anthropology, literature, and political science to capture the various ways in which the city has been studied academically, and we will analyze primary sources such as travelogues, maps, memoirs, and films to appreciate the different ways in which cities have been recorded and experienced by people over time. The course is structured temporally around typologies of Middle Eastern cities. Each week we will investigate a new "type" of Middle Eastern city, such as the classical city of Baghdad, the colonial city of Algiers, and the war-torn city of Beirut. In addition to giving you a solid overview of the history of the Middle East, this course will introduce you to historiographical criticism.

Open to Seniors, Juniors & Sophomores only.