COURSE
OBJECTIVES: This course will provide you with concepts, theories, and information to help you
understand
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Orientalism: the lingering, ethnocentric, "Crusader mentality" of Western scholars' interpretations of the Middle East, particularly Islamic societies and cultures.
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The influence of environment upon the cultural history of the Middle East.
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Relationships between the historical background of the Middle East and its
contemporary political conflicts and cultural adaptations:
a. Eastern Mediterranean agricultural village and pastoral adaptations, early state formations, and ancient civilizations.
b. Islam and its influence upon all the peoples of the Middle East.
c. the differential impact of European colonialism and imperialism upon Middle Eastern peoples.
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The foundations of ethnic differentiation in the Middle East today.
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Gender, family relations, and community life in different parts of the Middle East today.
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Migration within and emigration from the Middle East.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. To be negotiated. Your input is vital.
2. FINAL EXAM (mandatory).
LECTURE SCHEDULE AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
WEEK OF DISCUSSION TOPICS AND ASSIGNED READINGS
Jan. 6th Locating the "Middle East." Orientalism. Environment. Prehistory.
(BATES & RASSAM-Chapter 1, pp. 1-19. HANDOUTS.)
Jan. 13th Ancient Civilizations in Egypt and Mesopotamia. Judaism and Christianity
in the Pre-Islamic Middle East.
(BATES & RASSAM—Chapter 1, pp. 20-25. CP: S.A. QUEEN, R.W. HABENSTEIN,
and J.S. QUADAGNO—The Patriarchal Family of the Ancient Hebrews. HAND-
OUTS.)
Jan. 20th MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY. No Classes.
Jan. 22nd Islam.: (BATES & RASSAM-Chapters 2 and 3. HANDOUTS.)
Jan. 27th Arab Islamic Empires. The Ottoman Empire. (BATES & RASSAM—Chapter 4. HANDOUT.)
Feb. 3rd European Imperialism and Its Aftermath in the Middle East: Algeria, Egypt.
Oil and the Gulf.
(CP: P. SILVERSTEIN—Realizing Myth: Berbers in France and Algeria; A.MAGHRAOUI—Algeria's
Battle of Two Languages; J. GOODMAN—Berber Associations and Cultural Change in Algeria; B.
CHERIET—Gender, Civil Society and Citizenship in Algeria; J. STORK—Egypt's Factory Privatization
Campaign Turns Deadly' T. MITCHELL—Worlds Apart: An Egyptian Village and the International Tourism
Industry; L. ABU-LUGHOD—Islam and Public Culture: The Politics of Egyptian Television Serials; K.
AL-GAWHARY—Copts in the "Egyptian Fabric;" L. CAINKAR—Gulf War Aftermath; A.
GRESH—The Most Obscure Dictatorship.)
Feb. 10th Turkey. Iran.
(E. KURKCU—The Crisis of the Turkish State; Forced Evacuations and Destruction of Villages in Turkish
Kurdistan; Y. ARAT—On Gender and Citizenship in Turkey; Interview With SiRIN TEKELI—Turkish
Women and the Welfare Party; A. BANUAZIZI—Iran's Revolutionary Impasse: Political Factionalism and
Societal Resistance; A. BAYAT—Squatters and the State: Back Street Politics in the Islamic Republic; H.
HOODFAR—Devices and Desires: Population Policy and Gender Roles in the Islamic Republic.)
Feb. 17th Israelis and Palestinians.
(M. DUMPER—Jerusalem Then and Now; M. WENGER—Jerusalem; R. GIACAMAN* I. JAD, and P.
JOHNSON—For the Common Good? Gender and Social Citizenship in Palestine; M.A.
KHALIDI—Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon; J. PETEET—From Refugees to Minority: Palestinians in
Post-War Lebanon.)
Feb. 24th WINTER RECESS.
Mar. 3rd Nomads and Villagers. (BATES AND RASSAM—Chapters 5 and 6.)
Mar. 10th Villagers, continued. (Begin GUESTS OF THE SHEIK.)
Mar. 17th The Urban Scene. (Finish GUESTS OF THE SHIEK.)
Mar. 24th Kinship, Marriage, and Family. (BATES & RASSAM—Chapter 8. Read A WIFE FOR MY SON.)
Mar. 28th SPRING RECESS.
Mar. 31st Gender. Feminism, Secular and Islamic.
(BATES & RASSAM—Chapter 9. Begin MONEY MAKES US RELATIVES.)
Apr. 7th Socioeconomic Class. Political Culture. Patronage.
(BATES & RASSAM—Chapter 10. CP: S. JOSEPH-Gender and Citizenship in Middle Eastern States.)
Apr. 14th "Modernization" and Its Discontents.
(BATES & RASSAM—Chapter 11. Finish MONEY MAKES US RELATIVES.)
Apr. 21st Wrap-up and Review.
FINAL EXAM Wednesday, April
23rd
