04365 - History of Islamic Countries

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students are able to articulate informed and coherent arguments about the main aspects of modern and contemporary Middle Eastern political, social and cultural history by referring also to the relevant scholarly literature.

Course contents

This course surveys the history of the modern and contemporary Middle East by analyzing the main features of the process of state and nation building in Turkey, the Arab East and Iran from the end of the 18^th century until the end of the Cold War. Attention will be devoted to aspects of continuity and change in the political development of these areas while modernization trends and their contestations will be discussed with reference to their main social and cultural implications. The course will provide students with the analytical tools and necessary knowledge to understand the main features of the political, social and cultural history of the modern Middle East in the period under consideration.

For the first time, this year the course will be composed of two parts: a historical survey (40 hours) and a more advanced  section where we'll narrow down the discussion to how Islam has been used as a political ideology during the 20th century.  

 Course contents for each week:

Week 1- Introduction to the study of the modern and contemporary Middle East: working definitions, historical and cultural background

Week 2- Defensive Modernization in the Middle East: Tanzimat in the Ottoman Empire, Mohammad Ali’s Egypt and Persia under the Qajar

Week 3- The First World War and the Making of a New State System in the Middle East. Authoritarian reformism in Turkey and Iran

Week 4-  State and Nation building under the Mandates

Week 5- The Palestinian Questions, from its origins to Israeli Independence

Week 6-  Radicalization of Arab politics in the Independent Middle East. The Middle East in the Cold War.

Week 7- Israel and Palestine from 1948 to the 70s'. The Six-Day War and the decline of Panarabism

Week 8- Religious Revival in a Panarab Vacuum in the 70s'. From social Islam to Postqutbism.

Week 9- Towards the Islamic State. The Iranian Revolution of 1979 and its regional and global effects.

Week 10- Violence, action, and war between Islamonationalisms and Global Jihadism from the 80s' until today

 

Readings/Bibliography

Students are required to study the following textbooks:

1. for a comprehensive chronological and thematic overview, William Cleveland and Martin Bunton, A History of the Modern Middle East, Boulder: Westview Press, 2009. For a text-book in Italian, Marcella Emiliani, Medio Oriente: una storia dal 1918 al 1991. Bari: La Terza, 2012 (except chapter 5).

2. for background information on Islamic history and civilization: Karen Armstrong, Islam: a Short History, New York: Modern Library Chronicles, 2001. (available on line for free: [http://www.archive.org/)

3. 3- Roxanne L. Euben and Muhammad Qasim Zaman (ed.) Princeton readings in Islamist thought : texts and contexts from al-Banna to Bin Laden. Oxford : Princeton University Press, 2009

The use of historical and geographical maps is particularly encouraged. Suggested maps resources are:

https://cmes.uchicago.edu/page/maps-middle-east (Center of Middle Eastern Studies, Chicago University)

http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/MAPS/0_pal_facts_MAPS.htm (PASSIA, Palestinian Academic Society of the Study of International Affairs)

Non-attending students are required to study the textbooks indicated above. They are also requested to contact the lecturer by email (francesca.biancani@unibo.it) no later than 3 weeks after the beginning of the course, to set some additional readings on a selected topic (1 book or some articles) for the presentation they are required to prepare for the final oral exam.

Teaching methods

Lectures

Assessment methods

• One 3000 word take-home essay due at the end of week 5. Essays should be typed, double spaced, conveniently footnoted, based on a reasonable selection of secondary sources (at least  5 references, among books, journal articles, chapters etc) neatly refereced in a final bibliography ( bibliography not included in the word-count). Late submissions will be penalized. Plese, make sure your quotations are done correctly in order to avoid plagiarism. This also will be penalized. The Essay mark counts towards 50% of the final mark. Essay titles will be announced at the beginning of the course.

• Final oral colloquium (50% of the final mark), covering contents from week 6 to 10.

 

The evaluation of non attending students will be based on an oral colloquim only (100% of the final mark), consisting of questions on the core readings and a presentation on a previously selected topic.

Teaching tools

Pc, videos, slides

Links to further information

https://www.facebook.com/groups/523502087727844/requests/?notif_t=group_r2j

Office hours

See the website of Francesca Biancani